1492 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



NOVEMBEB 16, 1905. 



chry^ai^hemums occupied the cwter of 

 '^ the hall, while arranged on side tables 

 ? wera all the cut flowers', . fruits and veg- 

 etables. 



In -the competition for ^oup of foli- 

 age plants, Felix Mense won flrst, and 

 Alexander Mackenzie, gardener to Percy 

 Chubb, second. For a group of chrys- 

 anthemums, A. Mackenzie was first and 

 John F. Johnston, gardener to Paul 

 Dana, was second. A. Mackenzie also 

 staged some beautiful bush plants of 

 chrysanthemums. 



In the classes for cut blooms of chrys- 

 anthemums, A. Mackenzie stood pre-emi- 

 nent, his exhibit in the class for twelve 

 distinct varieties being superb. It was, 

 however, closely followed by that of Geo. 

 Ashworth, gardener to Walter Jennings, 

 Cold Spring Harbor. Other chrysanthe- 

 mum prize winners included Henry Matz, 

 gardener to L. J. Busby; Valentine 

 Sieves, gardener to F. S. Smithers; W. 



"WiUesen, gardyiez to H. F. Noyes; F. 

 Mense and John F, Johnston. 



In the carnation classes, the successful 

 competitors were P. Ewen; W. Eccles, 

 gardener to J. H. Schiff, Oyster Bay; 

 Fd. Boulon, Sea Cliff; W* Willesen, A. 

 Mackenzie and Jas. tiolloway, 



In roses, A. Mackenzie was again 

 prominent. Both double and single vio- 

 let classes were w«ll represented, Jas. 

 HoUoway, garaener to the Pratt Estate, 

 and Fd. Boulon being successful exhib- 

 itors. 



Fruit exhibits were large and, of 

 course attractive, and the section for veg- 

 etables brought out many competitors. 



A vase of Eobert Craig carnation, 

 from the Cottage Gardens, Queens, L. I., 

 was awarded • the society 's certificate of 

 merit. 



William Anderson, South Lancaster, 

 Mass.; John Scott, Brooklyn, and John 

 McNichol, Lawrence, were the judges. 



J. T. J. 



Storing Roots. 



This has been such a fine fall, and very 

 severe frost has kept off so that some 

 may have left tender bulbs and roots in 

 the ground. Others vinay have dug them 

 up and got them as far as the potting 

 shed. '"'Where to winter the roots may 

 be k question with some. Growers of 

 acres of gladioli or an acre of cannas 

 have their root houses or frost-proof 

 sheds, but many florists have only their 

 greenhouses and boiler shed. We have 

 kept gladiolus roots in excellent order 

 in flats beneath a cool bench, or in the 

 potting shed, where there was little or 

 no heat from the furnace. We remem- 

 ber putting several thousands in the base- 

 ment of our dwelling, where there was a 

 hot-water heater and, although it ap- 

 peared cool, the bulbs were sadly shriv- 

 eled by spring. Dahlia roots will do 

 very well beneath a cool bench; in fact, 

 where potatoes will winter, so will 

 dahlias. Have it as cool as you like, 

 but no frost. 



The canna is a very important plant 

 nowadays, with all of us, and I have 

 seen many lost through carelessness dur- 

 ing winter. Lay down a floor of old 

 boards beneath a carnation bench and 

 there the canna roots will keep finely. The 

 boards are very essential, for however 

 dry the floor of ^our house may appear, 

 it is moist enough to start them growing 

 toward spring and the good strong eyes 

 will break and grow and these are the 

 eyes that would make your strong plants 

 when potted. A drip from the bench is 

 very injurious t(^^ canna roots and much 

 of it will soon rot them, but from No- 

 vember on to March the watering of the 

 carnations should not be so copious as 

 to catiite drip. 



We always found Caladium esculentum 

 bulbs kept finely placed on the ground 

 beneath a rose bench. They like the tem- 

 perature and the small amount of mois- 

 ture rising from the ground suits them. 



Lily of the Valley. 



Valley pips will soon be arriving and 



should be unpacked and put in their 

 winter quarters without delay. Again I 

 must say that large growers have their 

 own cold-storage, and some of the large 

 importing houses manage the storage 

 business well, judging from results we 

 have experienced late into the fall. The 

 grower of 10,000 who forces them all be- 

 tween New Year's and Easter needs no 

 cold-storage, but keeps them on his place. 



The first thing to do after unpacking 

 is to see that the roots are not dry. If 

 at all dry, dip the little bundles of pips 

 in a pail of water; roots, crown and 

 all will not hurt for a few moments. The 

 next thing is to have a number of boxes 

 and pack away in each box as many as 

 you will want to force weekly. They 

 are pretty sure to be frozen and it is 

 much handier to bring in the whole box 

 and let it thaw out. These boxes should 

 be two or tfiree inches deeper than the 

 length of the roots and crowns. Put an 

 inch of soil in the bottom of the box and 

 then place in your bunches of roots un- 

 til there is a row across the box. Then 

 bank up against the roots an inch or so 

 of soil and then begin with another row 

 of the bundles, until you have in the 

 number of pips j ou intend to bring in at 

 once. Then cover the crowns with two 

 inches of soil and they are ready to place 

 in the frame. 



Sphagnum moss or sand may be just as 

 good as soil for packing the roots, but we 

 have found a loamy soil answers the pur- 

 pose well. The frame should be cov- 

 ered with sash or boards that will keep 

 out the rain or melted snow because a 

 continual wetting of the crowns is in- 

 jurious to them. Some growers believe 

 that freezing the pips is a necessity to 

 successful forcing. It may be; anyway, 

 let them freeze. You can bring in the 

 whole box and let it thaw out in the 

 shed. 



Hardy as the roots and crowns are we 

 once saw a box with the pips unprotected 

 exposed over night to 20 degrees of frost 

 and in two days the pips were rotten. 



This was unnatural. Growing outdoors, 

 these crowns are not above the ground 

 but just beneath it, so that freezing and 

 thawing are gradual, and so it will be 

 under the conditions I have tried to de- 

 scribe. 



Beauty for Pots. 



Those who planted some American 

 Beauty plants in the spring, with a view 

 to lifting them in the fall and forcing 

 for Easter, should have them potted by 

 the middle of the month. Some years ago 

 we were so eminently successful in this 

 operation thut if properly done we are 

 convinced there is no grander rose for 

 Easter forcing than American Beauty. 

 No hybrid perpetual will give such fine 

 or abundant bloom. 



After potting, a week indoors in a cool 

 house will do no harm, but later a cold 

 frame is the right place for them. Don 't 

 prune them hard when you lift them. 

 Leave the canes eighteen inches or two 

 feet long. More severe pruning can and 

 must be done when you bring them in to 

 force. We have seen more than one fail- 

 ure with these roses just because they 

 were subjected to a hard freeze and the 

 roots were almost dust dry. It was not 

 the freezing that hurt them, but they 

 could not stand it with their roots dry. 

 It is a common fallacy that shrubs and 

 trees like to be dry at the roots in cold 

 weather. Our forests and orchards and 

 nurseries all suffer when they go to sleep 

 with their roots dry and so our fine batch 

 of Beauties in 6-inch pots were ruined for 

 the want of watering. 



Chrysanthetnums for Profit. 



I am not supposed to have anything to 

 say about the glorious flower of autumn, 

 which has brought us so many delights 

 this past few weeks and is still with us, 

 but in my somewhat lengthy career, I 

 have never admired them more or taken 

 a keener interest in what the public ad- 

 mired and bought, and do think I can 

 give the small commercial grower, re- 

 tailer or wholesaler a little bread and 

 butter advice. Make up your mind now 

 which is the best half-dozen mums to 

 grow and grow lots of them. It is per- 

 haps a wil^ assertion, but I have noticed 

 this year that with many small growers, 

 if of all the mums grown, one-half were 

 Ivory he would have been money in 

 pocket. Your patrons will look at Nellie 

 Pockett, or Princess, or Gen. Hutton and 

 exclaim, ' ' How beautiful I ' ' but if they 

 want a dozen it is Ivory they want. Let 

 the other fellow grow the wonders and 

 you stick to the commercial varieties. 



Geraniums. 



You should find time just now to give 

 your young geraniums a "stand over." 

 If you only give them the slightest more 

 room, rub off the yellow leaves and above 

 all stir up the surface of the soil, the im- 

 provement in the growth will be wonder- 

 ful. You have plenty of room now that 

 your Ivory are all gone. 



William Scott. 



HANDLING CUT MUMS. 



We are having trouble with our 

 chrysanthemums after they are cut; they 

 wilt quickly and the flower hangs down 

 over the stem. We cut our stock in the 

 morning and send direct to the store, 

 only a mile away. They are put into 

 water right away and set in the ice-box. 

 After they come out of the ice-box they 

 begin to wilt. It is the same if we do 

 not put them in the ice-box. Could it be 

 that the stem is too hard and will not 



