Febuuauy 22, 190G. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



9t9 



Establishment of H. Luedtke« May wood, III. 



ness in rooted cuttings. His main crop 

 this year is Encliantress and his product 

 has ranked with the best offered in the 

 Chicago market. Prosperity was grown 

 extensively last year and the blooms 

 were very fine, but it was not found as 

 profitable as others, and has been 

 dropped. Fiancee is on trial and Mr. 

 Luedtke believes that another season it 

 will prove its worth. Sweet peas are 

 grown as a spring crop. E. C. Amling 

 handles the product of this establishment. 



THE CARNATION OF TODAY. 



[A paper by Robert Craig, of Philadelphia. 

 pre?:entt'd to the Horticultural Society of New 

 York on February 14, I'JIC] 



The carnation, as grown today, is al- 

 most exclusively a florists' flower, and 

 hydridizers have been breeding to im- 

 prove this strain, but there is a wider 

 field and an import lat field for them — 

 the development of garden carnations 

 hardy enough lo live through the winter 

 without protection, iji the latitude of 

 Philadelphia and Now \ork, and with 

 the quality of blooming through the 

 summer. The discussion of this idea 

 might form a lengthy paper in itself, 

 80 I will confine my remarks to varie- 

 ties grown under glass for winter 

 bloom. 



It would not be wise for me, in view 

 of the fact that at the present time 

 the literature of the carnation is so vo- 

 luminous, to attempt to give you a com- 

 prehensive and detailed history of the 

 wonderful flower, as we know it today, 

 and as we see it here on the tables to- 

 night. 



There is more space in the gardening 

 papers devoted to the carnation than to 

 any other plant or flower. The minutest 

 details as to soils to be used, and meth- 

 ods of culture to be observed, as well 

 as criticisms and descriptions of new 

 varieties as they appear, with histories 

 of the achievements (>f each in the com- 

 petitive exhibitions throughout the 

 country, with able discussions on the an- 

 cestry of each pedigreed variety; its 

 vigor of constitution or lack of it; its 

 freedom of bloom or its failure to have 

 this very desirable quality; its desir- 

 able habit of commencing to bloom ear- 

 ly in the fall, or its undesirable ten- 

 dency to defer blooming until a later 

 period. Detailed and frequent infor- 

 mation on every thing pertaining to 

 carnations is so easily accessible that 

 every one interested must have his de- 

 sire for knowledge almost fully satis- 

 fied, as far as the printed page can 

 give, and little further can be learned 

 except by personal culture of the plant, 



which occupation I recommend to ev- 

 ery amateur as one of the most charm- 

 ing that can engage his or her atten- 

 tion. So, I feel that if I am to inter- 

 est you tonight, it may be by a brief 

 expression of my thoughts as I review 

 my experiences of the past forty years, 

 with mention of the most famous varie- 

 ties which have appeared from time to 

 time, remaining with us until they were 

 either overtaken with disease or were 

 displaced by better varieties of similar 

 color and character. Of the'iiundreds of 

 sorts introduced in that period I will 

 speak in about the order of their intro- 

 duction, and of each color separately, 

 so as to bring clearly to your minds 

 the wonderful improvement which, not- 

 withstanding many failures, has gradu- 

 ally been maue. 



Improvements Maintain Interest. 



The frequent appearance of improved 

 varieties is the principal factor in main- 

 taining the lively interest in the car- 

 nation ; there is always something to be 

 said about a distinguished new-comer 

 and comparisons to be made with those 

 that have preceded it. Scarcely a year 

 passes by without bringing us one or 

 more real improvements; other kinds of 

 plants and flowers, with the possible ex- 

 ception of the chrysanthemum, do not 

 appear to be so susceptible of improve- 

 ment. 



Take the rose, for instance, particu- 

 larly the varieties which are forced for 

 cut flowers; we see few changes for 

 the better. Bride and Bridesmaid have 

 remained for many years the leading 

 teas, and the peerless American Beauty 

 has had no rival for a quarter of a cen- 

 tury. It is true that quite recently 

 there have been introduced several good 

 forcing roses, Liberty, Killarney, and, 

 last, the very valuable Eichmond rose. 

 The latter is destined to be very large- 

 ly grown ; all honor to E. (Jr. Hill for 

 the Eichmond. In his enthusiasm for 

 novelties, he has sometimes given us 

 sorts which did not pan out, but his 

 services in giving us this last new rose 

 have atoned for all his previous short- 

 comings. He is busy raising rose seed- 

 lings, has thousands on the way, and 

 with the experience of so many years 

 to help him, is almost certain, soon 

 again, to give us something we will all 

 be proud of. 



But we cannot hope to get good, new 

 roses as frequently as carnations, it is 

 not in the wood. Take again, another 

 class of plants, the palms, so deservedly 

 popular as house plants. Nothing new 

 appears at all equal to the old-time ken- 

 tias and arecas. New palms, it is true. 



i are • introduced from time to time, bnt^ 

 I none equal to those which we have had 

 so many years. 



"While the constant introduction of 

 new carnations is very interesting and 

 ! fascinating, it is alas, true, that where 

 we get one real improvement, there are' 

 several introduced with exaggerated- 

 praises which are practically worthless*. 

 But it will be more difficult in the fu- 

 ture to send out poor or mediocre sorts;: 

 the trade is becoming more and mor* 

 critical and the National Carnation So- 

 ciety is doing all it can to prevent th^ 

 introduction of inferior sorts. If ther»- 

 be a really good sort ready for the- 

 , market, this very critical inspection and- 

 / wide publicity will only serve to adrer- 

 tise its merits and increase its sale. 



The First Valuable Carnation. 

 The first valuable carnation to come 

 under my notice was La Purite, whieb 

 is generally spoken of as of a deep 

 pink color ; it was rather a carmine ■mtik. 

 violet flame. The shade was very pleas- 

 ing. It was imported from France ii»' 

 1858; in 1862 my father bought <me- 

 plant which cost $2.50 and proved to- 

 be a good investment, as it was of easy 

 propagation, and two years later we- 

 had a good stock which was in brisk 

 demand at $20 per hundred. I once 

 heard the late Georije Wilson, of Mai- 

 den, Mass., who was a very successfol' 

 florist, say that the best investment be 

 ever made in floriculture was the pur- 

 chase of fifty plants of La Purite at $5 

 per plant. This was probably in 1861. 

 This carnation was for fifteen years or 

 more, the most largely cultivated of the 

 time. It was very productive. I hare 

 seen a house of it at the late Wm. Ben- 

 nett 's, at Flatbush, which had on every 

 plant from seventy-five to one hundred 

 buds at the one time. I never saw it 

 grown in quantity quite so well as he 

 grew it, but it came to pass, after he 

 liad grown it so well lor a number of" 

 years, it was attacked by stem-rot, and 

 on calling at his place one day early 

 in the winter, I found more than one- 

 half the plants dead. It was so at- 

 tacked with more or less virulence, i» 

 all sections of the country and, I be- 

 lieve, the once grand old variety is now 

 extinct. I last saw it at Karl Muller'» 

 place in West Philadelphia., about fif- 

 teen years ago. This fine old Germai*- 

 gardener managed lo grow it success- 

 fullv five or six years after it had gen- 

 erally disappeared. The blooms of L»- 

 Purite were about one-third the sise 

 ot our now famous Enchantress, an^ 

 the mental comparison between the two^ 

 is to me very interesting. No cama^ 



