?J8 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Februauy 22, 1900. 



we placed a roll of wire the width of 

 the bed and fastened it there by driv- 

 ing two stakes into the ground at either 

 end of the wire. The wire would be 

 about ten inches or twelve inches high 

 and of 114 -inch mesh. This was 

 filled with good soil and we then 

 proceeded to plant our bed. We used 

 alternantheras, two or three varieties, 

 and echeveria, Anyone can choose his 

 own design. We planted right over the 



roll, placing our plants between the 

 mesh of the wire. When all was plant- 

 ed it looked like a stair carpet partly 

 rolled up and certainly was a very nice 

 bed. 



We kept it trimmed during the sum- 

 mer. In the fall, when the alternan- 

 theras had good color, it looked fine. I 

 hope I have made this clear enough for 

 W. D. to understand. 



Hamilton Scott. 



CARNATION NOTES. -WEST. 



Season of Strong Growth. 



While you are busy with your propa- 

 gating and potting and caring for your 

 young stock you must not neglect your 

 blooming plants on the benches. As the 

 season advances the growth will come 

 stronger and more rapidly. Disbudding 

 must be looked after carefully and when 

 you are through propagating, when dis- 

 budding, take off all the side shoots 

 down to where you will cut the stem in 

 gathering the blooms. These side shoots 

 will come stronger and more frequently 

 than they did earlinr and if they are 

 taken off it will help the blooms some. 



Watering requires closer attention 

 now, too. The sun is quite strong on a 

 bright day and will dry out the soil 

 wherever it strikes it and the plants be- 

 ing rather soft, can not stand much of 

 that without suffering considerably. 

 Look over the south edges of the beds 

 carefully on bright mornings and water 

 wherever the soil is not quite moist. In 

 fact, the whole beds will enjoy more lib- 

 eral watering than during the past three 

 months. Instead of leaning toward the 

 dry side, step over and lean toward the 

 moist side from now on, except, of 

 course, in case of a long cloudy spell 

 of weather. There ine many reasons for 

 this. In the first place, the plants are 

 thoroughly established; then again, the 

 soil is well filled with working roots and 

 will dry out quicker, thus eliminating the 

 danger of souring. The plants are soft 

 and, on bright days when the ventilators 

 are open, evaporation is more rapid and 

 the plants must be able to draw copious- 

 ly to prevent severe wilting. This wilt- 

 ing, if it occurs repeatedly, will destroy 

 the quality of your blooms quickly. 



Use Bone Meal. 



If the mulch you put on last fall has 

 disappeared or has been washed toward 

 the middle of the bed, you should put 

 on some more loose material along the 

 edge where the soil is bare to help hold 

 in the moisture. It is a little early to 

 mulch the whole beds yet, but a little 

 extra feeding can be done from now on 

 with good results. A moderate dose of 

 bone meal at this time will help them a 

 good deal and will carry them up to the 

 mulch you will give in a month or so. In- 

 stead of sprinkling the bone right on 

 the soil we prefer to mix it with about 

 three times its bulk of soil. Turn thia 

 mixture once or twice each day to pre- 

 vent heating and use after it has been 



mixed two or three days. The main 

 reason for doing this is because, when 

 sprinkling the bone on the beds and 

 when you water it in, the dust will rise 

 and settle on the blooms and in the axils 

 of the leaves and not only cause an ill 

 smell on the blooms, but in decaying is 

 liable to cause disease, while, if mixed 

 with soil, the moisture in the soil will 

 cause this dust to be taken up by the 

 soil and no trouble is experienced in ap- 

 plying it to the beds. You merely put 

 on three or four times as much as you 

 would of the pure bone, say a good big 

 handful to each row across a five-foot 

 bench. Water in well after putting it 

 on. 



At this time of the year you do not 

 want to be stirring the surface of the 

 soil much, nor the old mulch either, as 

 you will find them full of feeding roots 

 and they don't want to be disturbed. 

 About this time you will find lots of 

 young weeds starting up and, as soon 

 as they are large enough to pull, they 

 should be pulled. Most weeds are gross 

 feeders and will rapidly impoverish the 

 soil. A. F. J. Baur. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Care of Young Stock. 



It would seem unnecessary at first 

 thought to remind a grower that his 

 young stock needs careful attention, but 

 I know from experience how apt we are 

 to give as little time as possible to the 

 non-producers. A casual glance over the 

 bench in the morning, a hurried water- 

 ing of those needing it, a mental note 

 that ere long they must be gone through 

 thoroughly and the matter is dismissed 

 from the mind for the day. 



From the moment a cutting is severed 

 from the mature plant its future is de- 

 pendent on the conditions which sur- 

 round it and it is during the first few 

 months of its existence as a separate 

 plant that these conditions may be said 

 to have the greatest influence in shaping 

 its course. Under prevailing methods 

 the carnation spends practically its 

 whole life under artificial surroundings, 

 the only time presented for getting 

 close to nature being a brief sojourn in 

 the field, even this being denied in the 

 case of continuous culture under glass. 



It is not in any sense my purpose to 

 criticize present cultural methods, but to 

 call attention to the fact that there 

 should be a period during the life of a 

 plant that partakes of the nature of a 

 rest, a call from labor to refreshment 

 as it were. It is clearly out of the ques- 



tion to provide this for mature plants, 

 but it can very easily and without ex- 

 pense, be furnished the youngsters. 



As soon as potted and suf&eiently es- 

 tablishea to stand full sun, remove to a 

 house so arranged in the matter of heat 

 and ventilation that there may be no 

 sudden fluctuations in temperature; 

 gradually reduce the temperature so that 

 when well established the thermometer 

 will range between 3S degrees to 40 de- 

 grees at night and 50 degrees during the 

 day. Growth vrill be slower, which is 

 the object sought. It is not so much 

 size that is wanted in the early life of a 

 carnation plant as it is that sturdy look 

 so pleasing to the eye of the true gard- 

 ener. As an aid ii; maintaining this 

 season of partial rest, the soil used in 

 potting cuttings should consist of new 

 soil composed of rotted sod without ma- 

 nure or fertilizer of any kind. This low 

 temperature is also a preventive against 

 the development of insect pests, but nev- 

 ertheless, keep a sharp lookout as there 

 is nothing that will sap the vitality of 

 young stock like greenfly or spider. 



Topping Young Plants. 



The matter of topping having so 

 much influence on the future shape and 

 productiveness of the plants, this opera- 

 tion should be the subject of some 

 study; more, perhaps than is usually 

 thought necessary. 



While there is a proper time and way 

 to top a cutting of any variety, there 

 can be no arbitrary rule made that will 

 apply to all varieties as to the most de- 

 sirable point at which to top. A cut- 

 ting is ready to top when grown to such 

 length as the formation of a stem may 

 be clearly seen between the joints at the 

 point it is to be cut and I would insist 

 that a sharp knife be used in the opera- 

 tion. In deciding just where the point 

 in question is, one must be governed by 

 the general habit of a varie^; each has 

 a natural manner of growth peculiar to 

 itself and to accomplish the best results 

 in plant building it is necessary to ac- 

 quire definite knowledge of this pecu- 

 liarity. 



Varieties of sprawly growth, unless 

 kept well under control in the early 

 stages, become exceedingly diflBcult to 

 manage later and consequently must be 

 closely watched. If allowed to run up 

 to a considerable length there is not 

 only danger of giving the plant a se- 

 vere check by the removal of too great 

 an amount of tissue at one time, but 

 the stem is quite likely to have arrived 

 at that stage where strong breaks can- 

 not be looked for. High temperature^ 

 insufficient light and over-rich soil all 

 conspire to aggravate sprawliness in 

 growth, while the cool treatment before 

 referred to will be found a valuable aid 

 in inducing more compact growth in va- 

 rieties of this habit, at the same time 

 preserving the natural bushy habit of 

 those possessing it. Geo. S. Osborn. 



A MAYWOOD PLACE. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph taken at the establishment 

 of H. Luedtke, Maywood, 111. The range 

 consists of three houses devoted entirely 

 to carnations, which are grown very 

 successfully. Mr. Luedtke grows only a 

 few varieties for cut flowers, but these 

 are of the best, both in selection of 

 varieties, in culture and in results ob- 

 tained. He tries all the new ones as 

 they come out, taking up those which 

 suit his purpose and doing quite a busi- 



