142 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Dkckmbeh 7, 1905. 



EVELYN BYATT SWEET PEA. 



(SEK 81'1'1'I.EMEXT.) 



When the new sweet pea, Evelyn 

 Byatt, first came before the National 

 Sweet Pea Society of England, in one 

 of its great London exhibitions, the va- 

 riety was the center of attraction in the 

 show because of its new, striking and 

 pleasing color. It has since been ex- 

 hibited many times in England and has 

 each time added to its list of friends. 

 It is exceedingly difficult to paint a word 

 picture giving an adequate idea of the 

 unique color of this variety, hence the 

 color-plate which accompanies this issue. 

 The color is most nearly approached by 



the color in the standard of the well- 

 known variety, Gorgeous, and most 

 writers describe Evelyn Byatt as a self- 

 Gorgeous, for where in that variety the 

 wings are lighter than the standard, in 

 Evelyn Byatt they are a little deeper in 

 color than the standard, with a distinct 

 tint of orange. Burning of the sts^id- 

 ard is one of the faults American grow- 

 ers find with Gorgeous. Evelyn Byatt 

 will be tried under the widely varying 

 climatic conditions in America this sea- 

 son, and if it holds its color, as it does 

 in England, it seems likely to be a per- 

 manent addition to the list of leading 

 eorts. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Timely Cultural Hints. 



Thanksgiving, the first holiday of the 

 season that can be said to call for extra 

 quantities of flowers, is past and with 

 it passes the reign of autumn's queen. 

 I have always advised in these notes, 

 while the chrysanthemum held sway, to 

 direct the energies of the carnation more 

 toward plant building than production 

 of bloom; then with the coming of the 

 shortest days, just when we would desire 

 more hours of daylight, the plants are 

 in condition to withstand strong forcing. 



I do not wish to convey the idea that 

 it is advisable to handle stock solely 

 with an eye to producing a bumper crop 

 for Christmas, or that strong forcing is 

 a specially invigorating course of treat- 

 ment, but to lay stress on the import- 

 ance of preparing the plants for the 

 strain that must necessarily result from 

 continued hard firing, for with this 

 must come strong forcing — tlie two are 

 synonymous. 



Considering the amount of bright 

 weather we have had this fall, plants 

 should have made vigorous growth and 

 the soil be filled with a network of roots. 

 The amount of plant food removed will 

 depend on the manner in which the 

 stock has been handled; that is, whether 

 for bloom or with a view to later pro- 

 duction. 



The soil in a bench from which con- 

 siderable bloom has been cut must be 

 lacking to some extent, while a batch 

 of plants that have merely made good 

 growth will not have depleted the soil 

 as much, and in either case it is ques- 

 tionable whether the amount of plant 

 food removed is as large as generally 

 supposed. 



I venture the statement that many of 

 the troubles we are called upon to 

 diagnose can be traced to, or have been 

 greatly aggravated by, over feeding, es- 

 pecially during the first months after 

 housing and becoming established. 



A plant when lifted has stored within 

 an amount of energy that is surprising. 

 Potted into clear cinders, as taken from 

 the ash pit, moistened with pure water 

 alone and given such care as would ordi- 

 narilv be received by any pot plant, 



growth and production of bloom con- 

 tinue for some time. 



Some scientists claim that animals 

 when born are possessed of, or have 

 latent within them, the required num- 

 ber of germs that are to produce their 

 allotted number of oifspring, the num- 

 ber of germs varying in different indi- 

 viduals. No agency can increase this 

 number, but failure to observe certain 

 laws or conditions results in diminution. 

 Whether this theory is applicable to 

 plants or not, we have not space or de- 

 sire to discuss, but we do know there is 

 often a wide difference in the blooming 

 ijualities of plants of the same variety 

 grown side by side under conditions as 

 I near the same as is possible to produce. 

 I To return to the matter of food supply, 

 I it is but reasonable to state that at this 

 time of year, when all plant life is at 

 its lowest ebb, sound judgment, accu- 

 j rate knowledge of previous behavior of 

 ' plants and particularly the composition 

 1 of the soil must be known to handle the 



Christmas crop to the best advantage. 

 We usually have bad weather around 

 December 20, so improve each shining 

 hour. Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION NOTES.-WEST. 



The Propagating Bed. 



As 1 promised last week, I will hav« 

 a few words to say about propagating 

 liouses and benches and also some hints 

 on caring for cuttings while in the 

 sand. Most large growers have propa- 

 gating houses which are designed and 

 built for that purpose and as they can 

 be handled according to the needs of 

 the cuttings, and no other crop has to 

 be taken into consideration, good suc- 

 cess is the rule. Such a house need not 

 differ very materially from the regular 

 growing house as regards the structure 

 itself. The ordinary even-span house is 

 as good as any and you can build it as 

 wide and as long as you like, providing 

 you arrange for ample means of ventila- 

 tion without causing a draught to strike 

 tlie cuttings. Some use a lean-to built 

 against a three-quarter-span house, but 

 we do not approve of such a house be- 

 cause it is entirely shaded in midwinter 

 and it is impossible to give the cuttings 

 any sunlight whatever. 



So the most up-to-date propagating 

 liowse is an even-span house running 

 either east and west or north and south. 

 Tlie main difference comes in the build- 

 ing of the benches and arrangement of 

 the heating pipes. The benches should 

 be built very solid, as the sand is heavy 

 and when you pack it thoroughly, uh 

 should be done, it takes a well-built 

 bench to stand it. Put in the legs and 

 cross supports as usual, about four feet 

 apart, and then instead of the board 

 bottom use 2x4 pieces lengthwise and 

 space them apart far enough so that a 

 brick will reach from the center of one 

 to the center of the next one. Then lay 

 in the bricks flat and close together and 

 you have a propagating bench that can 

 not be beat. 



You can use your own ideas as re- 



House of Carnation Aristocrat. 



