9J6 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Februabt 22, 1006. 



with a bundle of standard early forcing 

 crowns, the roots being less fibrous, 

 thought vigorous in habit, and in fact 

 the pip itself, supposed it is a first class 

 late forcing valley, is just so strong as 

 any other valley. 



Coming from a heavy and damp soil, 

 they do not arrive to maturity so fast, 

 which makes them unfit for early forc- 

 ing; they even do not show activity in 

 growth before late in the season. 



Taken from cold storage, being forced 

 in the above way, they show a most 

 regular and uniform growth. The stalks 



are strong and tall, the bells large and 

 just so numerous as may be expected 

 from another first class valley with many 

 fibrous roots, forced early in the season. 

 To meet with the often expressed de- 

 mand for a first-class cold storage valley, 

 I have introduced a special brand. My 

 stock of retarded valley for sale in Euro- 

 pean countries exceeds annually four and 

 one-half million crowns, among which 

 you do not find a single crown with such 

 fibrous and bunchy roots, which in your 

 country are thought the best valley even 

 for cold storage purposes. 



E. Neubert. 



looking for should r)e provided by soil 

 so that the young plants will move right 

 along without any check. Make a good 

 start and the battle is half won. 



Chaeles H. Totty. 



„,-»?,""'**'*-*»**'\*"*'t3»-?""">*'^' .•■«?■ 



PROPAGATING. 



It is time to begin thinking of prop- 

 agation once more, and while fairly 

 good flowers can be had from plants 

 propagated much later than this, still 

 February and March are not too early 

 to propagate many kinds, and more par- 

 ticiUarly does this apply to the growers 

 for exhibition. If you want good flow- 

 ers, you must have an early start, espe- 

 cially so in the ca-je of dwarf, slow- 

 growing varieties. It is not at all un- 

 usual for a new thing to be condenmed 

 the first year because the buyer has 

 propagated it late and to the utmost 

 limit and the plants have not had a 

 chance to prove themselves. One cannot 

 strike cuttings in June and get as good 

 results as if the plants were struck in 

 February or March, only in the case of 

 some five or six kinds, like General Hut- 

 ton or the Batons, which will grow at 

 the rate of a foot a month when start- 

 ed. If a plant is started into growth 

 before the hot weather, it makes a 

 hardier, stockier, short-jointed g^rowth 

 and will not bolt up like the soft, sappy 

 growth of early June. 



The operation of making cuttings and 

 putting them in the sand is so simple 

 that every boy who works in a green- 

 nouse knows it and it is unnecessaiy to 

 go into detail here. I would simply say 

 trim off enough foliage so that the air 

 can circulate between the rows and 

 place the cuttings in the sand deep 

 enough so that they will not fall over 

 when watered or sprayed. If you have 

 a regular propagating house facing 

 north the cuttings will need little at- 

 tention at this season of the year, after 

 being watered in, but if you are prop- 

 agating in a corner of one of your cut 

 flower houses provision must be made to 

 keep sun and drafts away so that the 

 cuttings wUl not wilt and lose their 

 vitality. 



Select only the best cuttings for use. 

 Any that have become too long and are 

 throwing a bud should be discarded and 

 only the suckers coming right out of the 

 ground should be used. Shoots that are 

 produced up the old stems almost in- 

 variably run to bud after they start to 

 grow. 



If your stock plants have been rest- 

 ing under a bench somewhere, get them 

 up to the light at once, even if you have 

 to throw something else out to do so. A 



good start is everything and you cannot 

 expect yoxir plants to throw healthy cut- 

 tings if they are hidden away from the 

 sunlight. A few plants in the end of a 

 carnation or violet bench will not take 

 up much room and will well repay for 

 the care and space. 



As soon as the cuttings have roots 

 half an inch or so in length get them 

 out right away and pot into soil. Many 

 cuttings are permanently weakened by 

 being left in the sand and allowed to 

 make a weak, attenuated growth and 

 long, spindly roots. There is no nutri- 

 ment in sand. It is just a mediimi to 

 induce rooting and xs soon as the roots 

 are formed the nourishment they are 



CHRISTMAS CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



This season I have grown as bush 

 plants the variety W. Duckham, and 

 have found it to be very satisfactory; 

 its color is of pale mauve, and it is 

 much appreciated because it is of a deli- 

 cate shade such as is most suitable for 

 indoor decorations. Another variety of 

 beautiful soft coloring is Mme. P. Ea- 

 daelli. Flowers of Miss Alice Byron can 

 be arranged to very good effect in vases. 

 Lady Osborne is also well adapted for 

 flowering late in the season and lasts for 

 a long tmie after being cut. The variety 

 Glorious, crimson or scarlet, is particu- 

 larly beautiful at this season, and ad- 

 mirably adapted for associating with 

 white flowers where a striking contrast 

 is desired. In its earlier stages this va- 

 riety lis a weak grower, and more than 

 ordinary care is needed in affording wa- 

 ter to the plants. Mrs. Greenfield, rich 

 yellow and having long stems, rivals the 

 old variety W. H. Lincoln. It has an 

 elegant appearance when arranged, but 

 is not a variety to be recommended 

 where much packing has to be done, the 

 petals being so easily bruised. I still 

 grow the old incurved Harold Wells, 

 pale primrose, and it is very floriferous. 

 Mme. Louise Charvet is a variety well 

 worthy of extended cultivation; the 

 sprays of flowers are of large size, well 

 supported on long, stiff staSjs, and the 

 color is of a beautiful rich rose. Guy 

 Hamilton is a first-class white variety, 

 useful alike for cutting and for a pot 

 plant on account of its dwarf habit and 

 excellent foliage.— Gardeners ' Chronicle. 



REPOTTING YOUNG STOCK. 



The season of repotting being now in 

 full swing, with all its hurry and bustle, 

 in order to keep up with the rapid prog- 

 ress of growth, vmen a certain amount 

 of work must be accomplished within a 

 limited time, we must not lose sight 

 of the fact that in order to be success- 

 ful and produce good, healthy stock, the 

 work must be efficiently performed. 



Bepotting is one of these duties that 

 reqnire care and skill and to be profit- 

 able must be done '\^ith speed. There 

 is, however, a speed limit which it ia 

 unsafe to exceed, else some of the work 

 will be certain to be done in a slovenly 

 manner. To have the work performed 



in a thorough, tradesmanlike manner, 

 with a fair regard to speediness, should 

 be set as the standard of excellence. 



Stock carefully bandied from the 

 start, being so much more reliable, will 

 always be worth more in the market 

 than soft stock propagated from any 

 kind of wood that can be scraped up 

 and handled expressly to get it on the 

 market in quantity, irrespective of qual- 

 ity. If a reputation for good sto(^ is 

 desired, careful work and careful elim- 

 ination of all ailing and weak plants 

 should be practiced at repotting time. 



The soil for repotting should be in 

 a nice, mellow condition; that is, neith- 

 er too wet nor too dry. If too wet it 

 packs too firmly and if too dry it fails 

 to pack in a satisfactory manner. It 

 is safest to add no feeding or fertilizing 

 material at this time, avoiding partic- 

 idarly bone flour and all nitrates. Soil 

 left over from last season's planting 

 should be of about the right quality. 



