JdMI 28, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



341 



Peony Queen Victoria* the Variety most Extensively Grown for Cut Flowers. 



flowers fresh, or possibly a batch of 

 cuttings more to keep the surrounding 

 atmosphere moist than to wet the sand, 

 but spraying should not be confounded 

 with syringing and when we mean 

 syringing we should use the word. 

 Syringing means that you force water 

 against the under side of the leaf of 

 many plants with such force that you 

 destroy the minute web of the red 

 spider and actually dislodge mealy bug 

 from its resting place. I have often 

 thought that when good old Noah was 

 told to build the ark he might have 

 saved himself much trouble had be left 

 many of our small and troublesome in- 

 sects and parasites to perish. We could 

 have got along without red spider and 

 mealy bug, likewise the. skunk and rat- 

 tlesnake and lots of others. However, 

 we suspect then, as now, Mrs. Noah 

 had the say and insisted on taking in 

 her collection of posies, a rose geranium, 

 a lemon verbena and oleander, and so 

 perpetuated these nuisances. Perhaps 

 old Noah had the snakes at the time 

 and took in the skunk as a cheap disin- 

 fectant. 



Show Pelargoniums. 



Show pelargoniums that are quite out 

 of flower should be gradually dried off, 

 not a sudden withdrawal of water, but 

 less each succeeding week. They will 

 not suffer if occasionally allowed to be 

 very dry at the roots, for this will put 

 them in the proper condition for 

 propagation at the end of August, the 

 proper time. They can be stood out of 

 doors (not plunged) and given sufficient 

 water to keep them from shriveling. 



Calla Lilies. 



Those who grew a bed or bench of 

 falla lilies, which are now done flowering, 

 should lift the bulbs and dry them off, 

 not in the broad sun, but rather beneath 

 a bench where there is no drip. The 



soil must be renewed in the bed and the 

 bulbs will be all the better for the rest 

 till the middle of September, when you 

 replant the dormant bulbs. This calla, 

 or properly richardia, is a most accom- 

 modating plant. It will grow during 

 summer, if planted out or in pots, and 

 well supplied with water, or will submit 

 to perfect dryness of the bulb for sev- 

 eral months, but perfect drying out dur- 

 ing the next three months gives good 

 results. 



Heating Apparatus. 



Though not cultural notes, I want to 

 say a word about your heating ap- 

 paratus. In the rush at the end of May 

 when you cease firing, your hot water 

 heaters and steam boilers are too often 

 neglected. In the case of hot water 

 cast-iron heaters the interior surfaces 

 of the heater, all that you can get at, 

 should be given a good coat of oil, also 

 all doors and hinges. It need not be 

 new linseed oil; any waste oil that has 

 been used on journals will do. There 

 is more abuse and wear on these heat- 

 ers during the dampness of summer than 

 in the use of them in winter. In the 

 case of steam tubular boilers, the tubes 

 should be oiled by running through 

 each tube a bunch of oily rags or waste 

 and the interior of the boiler, both the 

 shell and the tubes, can be oiled by 

 filling the boiler with water as full as 

 you would if making steam; then pour- 

 ing in at the top of the boiler from 

 twenty to fifty gallons, according to 

 size, of crude petroleum, which will re- 

 main on top of the water. Then slowly 

 withdraw the water from the boiler 

 and as the water sinks, followed by the 

 oil, every part of the boiler will re- 

 ceive a coat of oil. The water in a 

 steel tubular boiler should be withdrawn 

 when not in use for any length of time. 

 Cast-iron heaters and pipes should be 

 kept at all times full of water. Proper 



care of these most important implements 

 may save you much future expense. 

 WiLLLiAM Scott. 



SOME GOOD PEONIES. 



One of the most attractive peonies in 

 the Boston show was Mme. Forel. It is 

 a very late variety, deep rose, shading 

 to pale rose, and noticeable for its fra- 

 grance. The flower is large and full. 

 This variety has been staged at previous 

 exhibitions of the peony society and has 

 never failed to attract attention. It is 

 noticeable, however, that the exhibitors 

 do not aJl have the same variety under 

 this name and efforts to procure it from 

 Europe have resulted in the shipment of 

 a variety of forms, showing that the 

 European stocks are no more closely 

 allied than are those of America. The 

 illustration is from a photograph of the 

 Mme. Forel in the Cottage Gardens' col- 

 lection. 



Another of the varieties in the Cot- 

 tage Gardens' collection which attracted 

 favorable attention was La Tulipe, a 

 late salmon-flesh variety, the center 

 petals touched with deep purple spots 

 which somewhat impair its usefulness for 

 cut flower work. It has a large, full 

 flower, as shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. 



Ask the average florist which is the 

 best white peony for commercial pur- 

 poses and the chances are all in favor 

 of his naming Festiva maxima, but as a 

 matter of fact a hundred blooms of 

 Queen Victoria are cut for the wholesale 

 markets for every dozen of Festiva 

 maxima. Queen Victoria is the old Whit- 

 leyii. It is grown in enormous quan- 

 tity by the large producers of cut 

 peonies. It is pure white, early and 

 fragrant. It is the first to reach the 

 Chicago market, usually coming at the 

 earlest date from the growers at Sar- 

 coxie, Mo. Thousands of dozens are 



