December 14, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



227 



CARNATION NOTES -WEST. 



Care of Cuttings. 



Having the propagating bench filled 

 with well-firmed sand, use an old table 

 knife and make a deep cut across the 

 bench, into which the cuttings are in- 

 serted. After sticking a batch (what- 

 ever you have made) water the sand 

 thoroughly, so- it will settle around the 

 cuttings. After that, water as needed, 

 keeping the sand in a fair state of mois- 

 ture. It should never become dry; 

 neither should it be watered enough to 

 become soggy. 



In the spraying and shading is where 

 your judgment is taxed the most. When 

 the weather is cold and the sun not very 

 strong, there should be no trouble. A 

 spraying each morning and the curtain 

 dropped in front of them when the sun 

 strikes them, and raised again at sunset 

 or just a little before, will keep them 

 fresh and you ought to root 100 per 

 cent of them. But later on, when the 

 Bun gets stronger and the house gets 

 warm in spite of you, then is when your 

 fine work is called for. 



Spraying should be done only when it 

 is necessary to keep the cuttings fresh. 

 On many cloudy or rainy days we do not 

 spray them at all. Too much spraying, 

 and especially keeping them wet over 

 night, will have the same bad effect on 

 the cuttings as it has on the growing 

 plants. It will start rust and spot dis- 

 eases and fungus. 



In many cases it is sufficient to drop 

 the curtain and keep the strong light off 

 of them, and whenever this is enough 

 to prevent wilting, it is preferable. This 

 curtain should be tacked to the sashbars 

 just above the front edge of the bench, 

 so that it will drop just below the edge- 

 board. This will keep off the sun, whUe 

 at the same time it allows the cuttings 

 to get the full daylight, which will keep 

 them plump and healthy. When not 

 needed to keep the sun off, this curtain 

 should be raised to allow a free circula- 

 tion of fresh air. 



This curtain may sometimes have to 

 be dropped to keep off draughts when 

 there is a high wind blowing and the 

 ventilators must be kept open. A draught 

 blowing over the cuttings will hurt them 

 as much or more than to let the sun 

 shine on them. So be careful on such 

 days. Keep the temperature in the 

 house overhead about 50 degrees and 

 about 60 degrees under the benches, and 

 if you will keep the cuttings fresh for 

 four to six weeks you will be able to 

 take out a good percentage of the cut- 

 tings you put in the sand. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



MELODY. 



The accompanying illustration shows a 

 house of Carnation Melody at the estab- 

 lishment of the W. C. Hill Floral Co., 

 Streator, 111., where the variety origi- 

 nated. This is a Daybreak-colored sport 

 of Lawson and has been seen at many 

 of the exhibitions and is well liked. The 

 house was planted from the field July 17 

 and salable blooms were cut August 13. 

 The two benches shown in the picture 

 had to December 1 produced 4,141 blooms 

 and in addition over 9,500 cuttings. All 

 the Lawson varieties, pink, red, white 

 and variegated, are grown at the Hill 

 place and are all money makers. They 

 make a point of propagating before they 

 begin feeding and have maintained the 

 vigor of their stock. 



Otaheite Orange in Brass Receptacle. 



CUT WORM. 



The enclosed carnation buds are some 

 we have cut from plants of Queen Louise 

 and McKinley. We have been unable to 

 see the pest. It appears it eats the cen- 

 ter or the flower out of the calyx. Please 

 give instructions how to prevent them 

 from destroying our crop. They work 

 very little on other varieties, but appear 

 to eat a part of the young shoots. 



C. S. G. 



The pest that is attacking your carna- 

 tions is no doubt one of the common va- 

 rieties of cut worm. They climb up to 

 the buds at night and feed until day- 

 break, when they return to the soil and 

 bury themselves about half an inch deep 

 in the loose soil, and remain there until 

 the next night. If you will take a lan- 

 tern about midnight you can catch some 

 of them while they are feeding. You 

 can find them, too, by looking for the 

 buds that were attacked the previous 

 night; you will usually find them buried 

 near the plant they fed on last. Hand 

 picking is the surest and quickest rem- 

 edy. They are of a dull gray color and 

 you will have to look close to see them 

 on the soil. 



The crimson variety of which you send 

 buds is not McKinley, but closely re- 

 sembles Harry Fenn. McKinley is a deep 

 pink about the same color as Lawson. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



Austin, Tex.— The Hyde Park Floral 

 Co. has opened a store at 822 Congress 

 avenue. 



YouNGSTOVSTN, O. — George Vogel, son 

 of the former local florist of that name, 

 died at Pittsburg, November 22. 



SMILAX IN GUERNSEY. 



For some reason or other local con- 

 ditions in the Isle of Guernsey, either 

 of soil or climate, suit smilax admirably, 

 and, though I have traveled, I have 

 never seen it growing so well elsewhere 

 under cultivation. The only fear is that 

 too many are growing it, and it will 

 be overdone. At one place I visited I 

 was able to verify the fact that smilax 

 to the value of $2,050 was cut and ex- 

 ported from one house measuring 35x 

 220 feet. That was the sum realized, 

 and, of course, the grower was exceed- 

 ingly gratified. If I remember aright, 

 the smilax was removed, and replaced by 

 runner beans, so that the $2,050 does not 

 represent the total receipts from that 

 house for a year. One of the most in- 

 teresting horticultural sights in Guern- 

 sey is a well kept house of smilax in full 

 growth. — Horticultural Advertiser. 



WITH BOSTON GARDENERS. 



Along the North Shore. 



Having a few hours to spare the past 

 week we determined to pass them in 

 this increasingly popular part of Massa- 

 chusetts' seaboard. We found many 

 striking changes since our previous visit 

 eighteen months ago. Many fine new 

 residences are being erected and ranges 

 of glass are found on practically all of 

 them, the owners coming from Chicago, 

 Pittsburg, New York and other cities, 

 in addition to the many from Boston. 

 There is now a flourishing horticultural 

 society here, and there is no question 

 but that this delightful locality is des- 

 tined to become in the near future the 

 leading society resort in the east, not 

 even excepting Lenox or Newport. 



