920 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



Fi.inti.AiiV 22, VMM. 



tioii has liad, as llir i lirat lifal iiirii say. 

 Midi a Inii^ iiiii i)U ;lic slayr as l.a I'li 

 I'ilr. Its silcci'ssnis ill the <liH'|i pillk 

 class wi'ic 'I i.lal W'avi' aii<l 'hioiiias 

 ( 'artl('(|yc. Iintli usi't'ul. JMit Tidal \Va\y 

 allaiiinl ihr greater |Mi|iularily . 



The Light Pink Class. 



(Ji tiiL' light pink class tin re have 

 liceii scvfial iiotahli' uiics. (Iracc W'il- 

 <ler, iatiothicod liv Mr. Daillrv, was a 

 very usol'iil variety, inr many years the 

 l)est of its color. Later, we had the 

 famous Will. Scott, and if Mr. Doriier 

 had done nothing' ( Ise. he deserves a 

 monninent for raisinn' and introducing 

 this. it oaiiie out at liie saini' time as 

 Kichinoiul and Alliertiiii, Uoth ol' which 

 excelle<l it on the 'xhiliition table, hut 

 l^oth foil so Jar behind it in prodnc- 

 tivcness that ihev were sonn dro[)|»ed, 

 while Win. Scott for many years had 

 no siK'cessfid iival, until Mrs. Fr.^ncea 

 -loost a I i|ie.i red. Later we luul Xelsun 

 and Genevieve J.ord. The famous Law- 

 son then appeared. The introduction of 

 this variety gave a greater impulse to 

 carnntion growing tlian any variety lie- 

 fore or since, sn many resj>ei-is it was 

 superior to anything prccedine it; it 

 was hiilliantly advertised, .and liest of 

 all, justitied every claim made for it. It 

 made Peter Fisher '^ name a household 

 word in carnation circles, and when he 

 introiliiced Knchantress. saying that it 

 was better than L.awsoii there wfiemaiiv 

 doubters, but Peter v/.-is ri<;ht. \\ t> hope 

 he may live to give ns more as ;;ood 

 or better. The ])arents of Ijawson were 

 Tidal Wave (locally known as Van 

 fieeuweu) aua Daybreak, which latter 

 was a distinct and ' aluable lireak. Out 

 of Lawson have com^ several famous 

 sorts. Knchantress. Mrs. ]\L A. I'atten 

 and ^Nelson Fisher; :imi Mr. Fisher has 

 a brilliant red on the way. It is cijr- 

 tainly a rich strain of blViod. 



And we are ready for another one 

 of this color. Helen (loddard lods fair 

 to be a winner, and when Helen Could 

 and Winsor are introduced next year, 

 particularly Winsor. they will <ertainly 

 prove valuable. I jnii in love with 

 Winsor; it is Just the shade ot' pink 

 that is wanted, has a vigorous constitu- 

 tion, a fine, stilf stem, and is \cr\ pro- 

 ductive. J have hail no opportunity of 

 seeing Candace, a v esterii \ariety now 

 beiiiL,' disseminated, but T have heard it 

 well spoken of In' cornpeteni judges. 



Another shade of ccdiu- which has 

 been vei-y popular may be called very 



light jiink. The lir-t oi f tlies(^ that 



T was familiar witli was Miss .biliffe, 

 a light tiesh. tinted with salmon. I 

 knew it well thirty years ago as the 

 l)est in its class. Later we had Day- 

 break. This was ;i very valuable varie- 

 ty with tlowers Jarijer than any which 

 had preceded it and with, tor that date, 

 wonderful, long, stin stems, .and of 

 a very lovely li^lit tiesh shaile, and un- 

 usually jirodnctive; for many years, the 

 best of its class, l>ut it finally succumbed 

 to disease and was displai'ed by Fair 

 Maid and Fnchanliess, both excellent 

 varieties. In fact, I think laichantress 

 the best carnal ioTi, all things consid- 

 ered, ever sent out in this country. It 

 is still very pojmlar. and as long as it 

 continues to be as good as it is now, 

 it will take a wonder, indeed, to dis- 

 place it. Jt is a model in all that con- 

 stitutes a good carn.ntion. and raisers of 

 new varieties should aim to get its 

 qualities in their seedlings. What a 

 boon ;i clear vi^llow Knchantress would 

 be' 



The Scarlet Class. 



Put I find my jiaper likely to take 

 too much of your time, so in cousider- 

 iiii; the important sc.arlet cl.nss, i will 

 pass over them with brief mention. 

 What a demand for this color at Christ- 

 m:is, it goes so well with the holly ber- 

 ries, the cheerful chimes and the gen- 

 eral joy! Century \»as raised in 1878 

 by the late Charles T. Starr, and while 

 more of a carmine than a scarlet, was 

 \ery bright and was very useful until 

 the advent of John Thorjje's Portia, 

 which was a brilliant scarlet, and very 

 largely grown for many years, its col- 

 cu- has never been excelled; it was very 

 productive; lack of size was its great- 

 est drawback. Then wo had in rapid 

 succession Lady hanma, Alegatiere, Gar- 

 field (this is the variety that Donald 

 McCallum called Hohert Craig, think- 

 ing he had a sj)ort, but after being con- 

 siderably grown as liobert t'raig turned 

 out to "lie (iarlieid), then Kstello, still 

 l; row 11 ill some sections; (1. II. Crane, 

 for years a good o"e; then America, 

 Adonis, and linally (Cardinal. This has 

 proved to be a good one in the west- 

 ern states, l)nt has so far, hardly come 

 up to (>xpectations in the oast; in fact, 

 it has been a great d^s-appointment, pro- 

 ducing a large percentage of worthless 

 blooms. 



The White Class. 



Now. we Avill brieflv ccuisider tiic 

 white class, so Largely used i'nv funerals, 

 weddings and in i',t;neral Ihu-al work, 

 Th(> oldest white one that 1 know was 

 President Degraw, im])orted from 

 I'ranco about the same time as La Pu- 

 rite. .and introduceil to commerce by 

 the late lamented Chas. Zeller, of Flat- 

 liiisli. the original carnation enthusiast 

 of America, whose stock of more than 

 fifty varieties 1 had the pleasure of in- 

 s|i(>cting some thirty-five years ago; 

 carnation growing was in its infancy 

 then. They wore most grown in pots, 

 .although they were beginning to l)e 

 planted by a few growers, mostly in 

 solid beds and a few on benches, which 

 is now the most popular way of grow- 

 ing. President Degraw had a long run, 

 many years of popularity. Then came 

 Peerless or Kdw.ardsii, followed by Kin- 

 /.ie's White, Peter Ffenderson, Snowden, 

 Silver Spray, a goo<l one; liizzie Mc- 

 <iow:in, none bettor in its time; Flora 

 1 1 ill, for a long time famous and still 

 ^rown to a considerable extent; Glacier, 

 <Jueen Louise. The Ouoen, Lady Pounti- 

 tiil, most lieaiififul (the greatest defect 

 ill this fine v.ariety is the tendency to 

 be a shy liloomer in tlie fall and early 

 winter); white Lawson and. finally, 

 Kieut. Peary, which 7 think is the most 

 valuable white to date. X'esper is an- 

 other good one. and not .as well known 

 as it deserves to be; it is vigorous, early 

 and continuous, very satisfactory with 

 many grow<'rs. AVhife Knchantress 

 ])romises well. The Pello is a very good 

 white witii many gri>vvers. 



in crimsons, which is one of the least 

 important, commercially, we have had 

 I'.lack Knight. Louis lienoir. Anna 

 Weiib. Crimson Kinir. ''• Mangold, Sea- 

 wan, Gomez, Maceo, Daheim. Harlowar- 

 <len and Harry Fern; fne latter two are 

 the best in this class and are still cul- 

 t ivated. 



White Variegated. 



The class known as white variegated 

 has been represented by a number of 

 varieties, enjoying a large measure of 

 [lojiularity ; the liest have been Hins- 



ilale, a good variety extensively grown 

 lifteen or twenty years ago. I never 

 saw it better than at John H. Taylor 's, 

 Bayside, li. 1. For several years he 

 grew it in large quantity; Chester 

 Pride; Variegated La Purite, a sport 

 from the great La Purite; Mrs. Bradt 

 and Lilly Dean, Olympia, Prosperity, 

 M. A. Patten and Variegated Lawson. 

 The latter two are the latest and best, 

 .lesbica, which is being introduced tiiis 

 year, looks jiromising. 



in yellow variegated, we have had 

 Astoria, introduced by Wm. Wilson, of 

 Astoria, about thirty years ago, a fine 

 variety in its day. Then came Chas. T. 

 Starr's Buttercuj), introduced to the 

 trade in 1884, and the best one we have 

 ever had; followed by Andalusia and 

 Sunrise and Lldorado, which are now 

 probably both out of cultivation. We 

 need a good, new one in this class. 



American Carnation Best. 



Mow, I have named in all the classes 

 most of those that have been s|)ecially 

 valuable in the past and those which 

 are the best at the present time. I 

 have also had the 'emerity to jiick the 

 winners of those being introduced this 

 year. It is iuterestiug to note that the 

 early and free blooming qualities of the 

 American carnation are beginning to 

 be recognized by some of the wide-awake 

 English growers. Among the kinds that 

 have done well over there may be men- 

 tioned I'aichantross and America. Fair 

 -uaid, The Belle and Harlowarden have 

 done particularly well. I recommend our 

 English friends to try Helen Goddard, 

 and, when they are ^utroduced. Winsor 

 and Beacon. Although there is a hick 

 of sunlight in England, the free bloom- 

 ing American varieties ])roduce some 

 flowers in the fall and winter and in 

 March, April, May and .June bloom free- 

 ly. As the London fashionable season 

 runs into .July, there is always a good 

 demand for the blooms. The method of 

 growing, heretofore, in England has 

 been in pots, but the American method 

 of growing on benches has been intro- 

 duced. Mr. Ditton, one grower near 

 liondon, has been quite successful. 



One thing seems clear: The best of 

 the American sorts are superior in jiro- 

 ductiveness to any on earth, and equal 

 in form and color to the best anywhere. 

 Although there have been many disap- 

 pointments, the advances are surprising, 

 almost bewildering, and it is to be hoped 

 that those who have devoted so much 

 time and thought to seedling raising, 

 may continue with enthusi.asm in the 

 gooil work and lliat the number of those 

 who are so engaged may be largely in- 

 creased, for when success comes to any, 

 it may be enjoyc'd by all, both profes- 

 sional and .amateur, who are willing to 

 participate. We owe much to those who 

 are willing to grow iiundreds of seed- 

 lings, .and to test them at great ex- 

 pense f(U- several years in the hope of 

 occasionally getting one good enough 

 to send out. The cool, calculating, sure- 

 thing, business man is not likely to spend 

 inuch time r.aising seedlings, but the 

 intelligent enthusiast in the carnation 

 field is always likely to become a bene- 

 factor to us all. 



1 \\'(U !.!• like to congr.atulate ytui k^n 

 the jilienotnenal results obtained from 

 my advertisement. I have sold several 

 iiiindred thousand Asparagus plumosus 

 iiatius seeds. The 1?kvik\v surely does 

 the work. 1'. Gii.vfw T.vvi.oi;. (iiondale, 

 <'al. 



