JANUAIIY 4, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



429 



An Attempt to Show the Elaborate Character of the Decorations for the Hill Banquet, St. Paul. 



results, with the exception that I have 

 not been able to keep the house as warm 

 as it should be. Can some one help me 

 out of the trouble? I had in 1,200 

 plants and pulled up over 300 of the 

 worst ones this week. W. C. S. 



I would like to have you send me one 

 of the worst affected plants for exam- 

 ination. I am not sure that the white 

 fungus at the roots and the yellow tips 

 come from the same cause, but such a 

 thing is possible. Also let me know 

 what manure you mixed with the soil 

 and how much. Was the sod well rotted 

 when you filled the benches? Have you 

 been watering liberally? Did the plants 

 take hold of the soil when planted and 

 did they make a fair growth? When did 

 the trouble begin? All these things may 

 have some bearing on the case. Send 

 considerable soil with the plant. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



seem to have roots. If the buds are kept 

 down how long will it take for cuttings 

 taken next month to attain sufficient size 

 to produce good flowers without sapping 

 the strength of the plant? Are they 

 gross feeders? How many flowers per 

 plant should be allowed to bloom first 

 season? I. G. 



Information Wanted. 



I have so often found helpful sug- 

 gestions in the columns of the Eeview 

 that I want to ask a question which 

 no doubt can be easily answered by 

 some of your correspondents. The 

 answer will be of vital interest to the 

 writer and probably to some others. 

 This is it: "How can you sell dollar 

 carnations in a thirty-cent town?" 



F. A. F. 



THE READERS' CORNER. 



Jerusalem Cherries. 



In the Review of November 23, I saw 

 an inquiry about planting Jerusalem 

 cherry seeds to secure plants for next 

 year. I think I have a better plan than 

 that. I take cuttings about the middle 

 of January, from last year's plants. 

 They will riot in about four weeks and 

 every cutting will make a plant. I put 

 them in 2 ^^ -inch pots and set them out 

 about the first week in June. I make 

 the rows two and a half feet apart and 

 set the plants fifteen inches apart in the 

 rows. I can raise plants fifteen to thirty 

 inches high the first year and full of 

 berries. T. H. Hart. 



Shasta Daisies. 



The writer has a few of each of Bur- 

 bank 's new Shasta daisies that are steel- 

 ing out in fine shape in the bench and 

 ■would like to know how to propagate 

 same with best results. Have understood 

 that the divisions are cut off as soon as 

 they have roots but the branches do not 



ROSES. 



Season of Low Vitality. 



The dark and dreary weather which 

 has been the feature in many sections 

 during the past six weeks, has begun to 

 show its effect upon all varieties of roses 

 and care must be taken to maintain 

 vigor and health during the next two 

 months. Crops before the holidays were 

 so tardy and prices so tempting that 

 many of us were induced to resort to a 

 little forcing to secure the harvest. 

 Plants as a rule are in no condition at 

 this season to bear extra strain and any 

 forcing is apt to injure succeeding crops 

 by inducing a weak growth and soften- 

 ing of the foliage. 



Experts each have their favorite meth- 

 ods of forcing a crop, but with the best 

 of knowledge and experience there is 

 still an element of danger. The grower 

 who exercises patience and makes the 

 health of the plants his first considera- 

 tion, is the one most likely to have the 

 best satisfaction and come out ahead at 

 the end of the season. 



To counteract the damage resulting 

 from this forcing, particular attention 

 should be given to ventilation, both night 

 and day, missing no opportunity to give 



all that the weather will permit, even at 

 the expense of a few more tons of coal. 



At this season, when the vitality of 

 the plants is at its lowest, it must he 

 borne in mind that they cannot use a 

 large supply of either water or feeding, 

 so a careful examination should be made 

 daily and the supply regulated according 

 to their wants. 



A little care in watching, to ascertain 

 the wants of the plants, and supplying 

 these at the right time, should now be 

 one of the main duties of the grower, 

 and the success attained along these 

 lines will meet its reward in the future 

 crops. ElBES. 



SHAVINGS. 



We would be pleased to learn if pine 

 shavings, used as bedding, are injurious 

 in horse manure to be used in composting 

 rose soil, especially if the manure is a 

 year old? C. & G. P. 



Pine shavings and sawdust possess 

 such a small percentage of nutritive 

 matter that they are seldom used as fer- 

 tilizers, almost any kind of barn yard 

 manure being preferable. They possess, 

 however, good absorbent qualities, fitting 

 them, when properly composted with 

 other manures, to retain the gases suit- 

 able to plant life, especially when sat- 

 urated with liquid manures and other 

 fluids containing ammonia. The ma- 

 nurial value of shavings, owing to slow 

 decomposition, is not usually available 

 the first season and produces its best 

 effect the third and fourth year after 

 application, which makes it a rather un- 

 suitable material for roses as they are 

 now grown. But they will not injure 

 your compost unless they constitute a 

 considerable part of the manure. 



ElBES. 



MOST UP-TaDATE. 



Here is another dollar for subscrip- 

 tion to the most up-to-date florists' help- 

 er, not only in the United States, but in 

 the whole world. Wm. Scott. 



Morton Grove, 111. 



