226 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Decbmbbr 14, 1905. 



IMPORTED INSECTS. 



Enclosed are a few leaves of azaleas 

 which I received from a certain firm in 

 Holland October 26. Upon unpacking 

 the plants they were almost without 

 leaves and full of small, green, round 

 bugs, scale and a small white fly. I 

 dipped the plants in nicotine. It cleaned 

 out everything but the white fly. These 

 got on some of our fuchsias and pelargo- 

 niums. Could you advise me what to use 

 to get rid of it. A. W. 



. The azaleas in question must have 

 been very much infested with insects, 

 judging by the leaves that were enclosed 

 with this query, and the dipping in nico- 



tine solution was a good? method of 

 treatment, though I should think that 

 a second dipping will be needed before 

 the flower buds begin to swell, in order 

 to make a clean job of such plants. 



The white fly is hard to kill, but strong 

 fumigating with nicotine may get the 

 best of it, and if this should fail, the 

 hydrocyanic acid fumigation is a last 

 resort, and will certainly kill the in- 

 sects. But in using this latter treat- 

 ment it should always be remembered 

 that hydrocyanic acid is one of the most 

 deadly poisons and that a man seldom 

 lives over a minute after taking a full 

 breath of this gas, so one cannot be too 

 careful in its use. W. 9. Taplin. 



CARNATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



The Holiday Crop. 



By the time these notes reach you you 

 will have sized up your Christmas crop 

 and know about how many blooms you 

 v/ill be able to turn out for the holiday 

 sales. Almost every grower has to know 

 about a week ahead what his cut is going 

 to be, though of course he cannot be ab- 

 solutely certain on account of the uncer- 

 tainty of the weather. We have often 

 found ourselves loaded to the brim with 

 orders two weeks ahead, regardless of 

 what the weather would be. The retailer 

 cannot afford to place his orders with 

 the grower subject to the weather, be- 

 cause his retail customers don't consider 

 the weather when they place their order 

 for a certain quantity of a certain flower. 

 So it often puts the grower into a pretty 

 tight hole and he has to resort to every 

 trick known to him in coaxing out the 

 blooms and holding them in good condi- 

 tion for that time. 



Although Christmas comes at a time 

 when flowers are at just about low ebb, 

 the demand is suddenly jumped to at 

 least double the normal, which makes it 

 all the more trying to the grower. Every 

 grower of cut flowers knows that to meet 

 the demand for blooms at Christmas is 

 the hardest problem he has to solve. If 

 his glass area is large enough so that, 

 with a good crop, he is able to supply 

 the demand at Christmas he need not 

 worry the rest of the season, providing 

 his crop continues fair. That is what 

 causes all this building every summer. 

 I think that I am safe in saying that but 

 for the heavy demands on the growers 

 at Christmas, many a thousand feet of 

 glass put up in the last few years would 

 have been left unbuilt. However, this 

 does not alter the fact your customer 

 wants the blooms and you will have to 

 do the best you can. 



It has been our experience that usually 

 during the week preceding December 23 

 trade is rather light and that enables us 

 to save many blooms that would have 

 been called for if trade were normal. In 

 fact, most of our customers instruct us to 

 hold back the entire cut except what they 

 have to call for. Of course there are 

 many blooms that are not fit, in the way 



of substance, to hold back many days 

 and these must be disposed of whUe they 

 are in good condition. Therein lies the 

 secret of successfully holding back 

 Christmas blooms. 



Growers who will store away every 

 bloom they cut during the week pre- 

 ceding Christmas, regardless of the tex- 

 ture, will always hear complaints about 

 pickled stock. If you '♦put away all the 

 blooms you cut and at the end sort out 

 those that are in first-class condition and 

 throw the balance away you will be lit- 

 tle better off than you would be had you 

 sold them all at nominal figures. Espe- 

 cially is this true if you raise the tem- 

 perature much, as that will have a ten- 

 dency to soften the blooms. So when 

 you begin saving up the blooms sort 

 out those that are firm of texture and 

 likely to keep and dispose of the others 

 while they are in good condition. 



You will find a great difference in the 

 blooms of the same variety and you will 

 find a still greater difference in the dif- 

 ferent varieties. For instance, you can 

 keep Lawson as long as any of them, but 

 you can not save Nelson very many days 

 in good condition and the same is true 

 of Crane. Enchantress does not stand 



much handling when several days old, be- 

 sides losing its color quickly after open- 

 ing. In fact, this is true of most of the 

 more delicate shades of pink. 



A few years ago, when Christmas 

 blooming plants were few and cut blooms 

 almost as scarce, everything went, just 

 so it was a flower, but the public has 

 learned a good deal about flowers and 

 one of these things is that when it pays 

 double and treble the usual price it is 

 entitled to good goods. You will do far 

 better to cut the blooms half open at 

 the last moment, if they are demanded, 

 than to save them up too long. There 

 will be just as much in it for you and 

 your customers will get much more satis- 

 faction from them. So look over the 

 blooms every day and dispose of luy that 

 show signs of weakening. 



In laising the temperature be moderate 

 by all means. At this time of the year, 

 when the growth is less vigorous than at 

 any other time, any hard forcing will 

 show its effects in the near future, by a 

 weakeued growth, weak stems, split ca- 

 lyxes, off color, etc. Baise the tempera- 

 ture slowly and reduce it slowly after- 

 wards, and do not raise it more than 

 G degrees at the highest point. One de- 

 gree each night is fast enough and will 

 do but little damage, but to raise it 6 

 degrees in one night and hold it there a 

 week would be sure to cause much dam- 

 age. The price of a few extra blooms is 

 soon lost in a loss of quality later on, 

 and in order to produce really high grade 

 blooms a plant must be in first class 

 condition. A weakened plant cannot pro- 

 duce quality. 



And, finally, keep in close touch with 

 your customers or your commission man. 

 Send in the blooms when they want them, 

 OS they can tell better than you can when 

 they will go best. Every holiday we hear 

 of some growers who held back a lot of 

 blooms and dumped them onto the market 

 at the Inst moment and got very low re- 

 turns, while earlier they could have got a 

 good ])rice. So give others credit for 

 knowing their end of the business as 

 v/ell as you know your end. To know the 

 market is their specialty, just as your 

 specialty is the growing of the blooms. 



A. r. J. Baur. 



The Review will send the Pronounc- 

 ing Dictionary on receipt of 25 cents. 



Bench of Carnation Melody, Photographed November 17. 



