226 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



I)i:cKMi!i;ii 14, 1005. 



IMPORTED INSECTS. 



1']tic1iisci| 'a]o ;i I'cw ]c;i\i'S i j t' ;i/.;ilt'as 

 wliirh I ic(('ive«l Jrnm ;i rertaiu liiiii in 

 lloJlaml October L'O. I'pnii iuij)ackiii}i; 

 tlie plants tlicv wcic almost willumt 

 leaves ami full of small, yiceii, round 

 )iii<,fs. scale and a small \vliit(' tly. I 

 <lij)pe(l the plants in nicotine. It dcancil 

 out evervtliinf; Init the white tly. These 

 got on s line ot our lurhsias ami jielargo- 

 iiiiuns. ' ouhl you advise me what to use 

 to get lid (d" it. A. W'. 



'I'he azaleas in (|Uestion must lune 

 been very imich infested with insects, 

 judging by llie leaves that were en(dose<l 

 with this (juery, and the dipping in nico- 



tine s(dution was a gdo(| method of 

 treatment, though I should think that 

 a secoml di|)ping will 1k' needed before 

 the llower buds begin to swell, in order 

 to make a clean job oi' such plants. 



The white tly is liar<l to kill, but strong 

 fumigating with nicotine may get the 

 best (d' it, and if this should fail, the 

 hydrocyanic a(dd fumigation is a last 

 resort, and will eertaiidy kill the in- 

 sects, lint in using this latter treat- 

 ment it shoulil always l)e remembered 

 that hydrocyanic aidd is one of the most 

 deadly jtoisons and that a man seldom 

 lives over a minute after taking a full 

 breath of this gas, so ()n(> cannot be too 

 earefid in its use. \V. ]|. Tai'LIX. 



:^^^•'*. 



CARNATIONS FOR CHRISTMAS. 



The Holiday Crop. 



l'.y the time these imtes rearh yon you 

 will ha\e sized up your (hristmas ci'op 

 and know about how many blooms you 

 will be able to turn out for the holiilay 

 sales. Almost e\cry giowt'r has to know 

 about a week ahead what his cut is going 

 to be, tiiough of course he cannot be ab- 

 solutely ceitain on account <d' the uncer- 

 tainty of the weather. ^Ve have often 

 found ourselves loaded to the brim with 

 orders two weeks ahead, regardless of 

 what tilt! we.-ither would lie. The retailer 

 <-annot alford 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 h(de and lie has to resort to every 

 trick known to him in I'oaxing out the 

 blooms and holding them in good condi- 

 tion for that time. 



Although Christinas comes at a time 

 when flowers are at just about low ebb, 

 the demand is su<l<len]y jumped to at 

 le.-ist dmii)le 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 lias to solve. If 

 his glass area is large enough so that, 

 Avith a good crop, he is able to supply 

 the demand at Christmas he need nor 

 worry the rest of the season, providing 

 his crop continues fair. That is what 

 causes all this ]>uilding every summer. 

 1 think that I am safe in saying that but 

 for the heavy ileinands on the growers 

 at Christmas, many a thousaml feet of 

 glass i>ut up in the last few years would 

 have been left unbuilt. However, this 

 does not aber the fact your customer 

 Avaids tlie blooms and you will lune to 

 do the be«t you can. 



It has ])een our exj^erience that usually 

 during the week preceding Ilecember L'.". 

 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 

 manv Idooms th.at are not fit, in the way 



of substance, to hold back many days 

 and these must bo disi»oscd of while they 

 are in good condition. Tlu'rein lies the 

 secret (d' successfully holding back 

 ('hristmas blooms. 



(iroweis who will store away every 

 bloom tliev cut during the week pre- 

 ceding Christmas, regardless of the tex- 

 ture, will always hear eomj)laints about 

 ])ickled stock. If you <put away all the 

 blo(tms you cut an<l at the end sort out 

 those that are in lirst-class condition and 

 throw the balance away ycui will be lit- 

 tl(^ better olf than you would be had you 

 S(dd then all at nominal figures. Espe- 

 cially is this true if you raise the tein- 

 jierature much, as that will have a ten- 

 dency to soften the blooms. So when 

 you begin sa\ing uji the blooms sort 

 out those that are lirm of texture and 

 likely to keep and dispose of the others 

 while they are in good condition. 



Vou will find a great difference in the 

 blooms of the same variety iind you will 

 fimi a stdl greater difl'erence in the dif- 

 ferent varletie.;. For instance, you can 

 keep I«iv.s(in as long as any of them, but 

 you can not save Nelson very many days 

 in good condition and the same is true 

 of (lane. Encliantress does not stand 



much handling when several days old, be- 

 sides losing its color (piiekly after open- 

 ing. In fa<t, this is true of most of tlie 

 more dilii-.iie shatles of jiink. 



A few years ago, when (,'hristmas 

 blooming plants were few and cut blooms 

 rdmost as scarce, e\ery thing went, just 

 so it was a flower, but the public has 

 h allied 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 

 tlie li.st moment, if they are demanded, 

 tlian to save them up too long. There 

 will be ;iust as much in it for you and 

 your cust(.mers will get much more satis- 

 facti'^n from them. So look over the 

 bhuvms every day and dispose cd' my that 

 s'.iow signs of weakening. 



Ill i:i;^ing the temi^erature be •noderate 

 by ;ill means. At this time of the year, 

 vjieii the growth is less vigorous than at 

 any itiur time, any hard forcing will 

 show its efl'eets in the near future, by a 

 wcakeneii growth, weak stems, split ca- 

 lyxes, olf color, etc. liaise the tempera- 

 ture sldwlv and reduce it slowly after- 

 wards, f.iid do not raise it more tha'.i 

 degrees at the highest poinf. ()ne de- 

 gree each night is fast enougii .-uid will 

 do but little damage, but to raise it 

 degrees in one night and hold it there a 

 week would be sure to cause much dam- 

 age. The luice 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 (luality. 



And, finally, keep in (dose touch with 

 your cuf'Tomers or your commission man. 

 Send in the blooms when they want them, 

 as they can tell better than you can when 

 they will go best. Every holiday we hear 

 (d' 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 

 ;:(j(.(: ]irice. So give others credit for 

 i;nowiiig their end of the business as 

 A/ell .IS you know your end. To know the 

 ir.arket is their specialty, just as your 

 specialtv is the growing of the blooms, 



A. F. J. Baur. 



Tjii^. Review will send the Pronounc- 

 ing Dictionary on receipt of 25 cents. 



Bench of Carnation Melody, Photographed November 17. 



