Jolt 6, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



401 



about seven years old and has attained a 

 height of about eleven feet and is thirty- 

 five feet in circumference. How well 

 the plant flowers is shown by the photo- 

 graph, which was taken a few weeks ago. 

 Spirara Van Houttei is one of the 

 principal items of stock wherever shrubs 

 are grown, and deserves its popularity. 



SYRINGA JAPONICA. 



Please tell me the name of a large 

 shrub or tree, not unlike a lilac, only a 

 larger tree. The top of the tree is in 



full bloom now, and is very handsome 

 and fragrant. W. A. L. 



The plant is Syringa Japonica, some- 

 times called Ligustrina Amurensis, one 

 of our tall grovdng or tree lilacs. This 

 makes one of the most handsome of our 

 large shrubs for blooming late in June 

 or in early July. The flowers, unfortu- 

 nately, possess a strange fascination for 

 rose bugs, which usually descend upon 

 them in hordes as soon as they are open, 

 and soon give them a brown appearance. 



W. N. Craig. 



THE FIRST BREAK. 



This is a term applied to the condi- 

 tion of the plant when after making 

 a growth of a foot or so it produces a 

 bud and then several growths around 

 the bud, which will run on to produce 

 the future flowers. This bud is similar 

 to the later ones in that it would if it 

 were retained and conditions were favor- 

 able produce a flower, but conditions in 

 our climate are unfavorable for these 

 early buds and they never develop prop- 

 erly. Some of the types that will flower 

 early in August in Europe will not come 

 here till six weeks later, as the early 

 buds all rot or produce distorted flow- 

 ers. It is these different buds that 

 prove the stumbling block to the novice 

 in chrysanthemum growing, but it may 

 safely be set down that any bud that 

 shows for the next four weeks is too 

 early and will not produce a good flower. 



The grower, if he wants to produce 

 two flowers to a plant, can now run two 

 shoots in place of one, in fact some 

 prefer to grow them this way, as the 

 plants are not nearly so crowded in 

 the benches. If the plants are kept to 

 one shoot again pinch all the superfluous 

 shoots oflP close to the stem. This opera- 

 tion can be done with the thumb and 

 finger so neatly that the "break" can 

 hardly be seen in a few weeks. The 

 shoot that is retained sometimes shoots 

 out at right angles before it goes on 

 up; in such a case it should be tied 

 up in such a manner that it will be 

 coaxed into growing straight. A crooked 

 stem impairs the value of the flower, 

 ana that is the chief reason why I much 

 prefer wire stakes to string, as the 

 plants can then more readily be trained 

 in the way they should go. 



The weather in this section has been 

 very warm during the last week, and to 

 prevent the plants from scalding it is 

 necessary to keep the atmosphere full 

 of moisture. Turn the hose loose in 

 the house four or five times during the 

 day, spraying the plants and paths and 

 all parts of the house. This will pull 

 down the temperature to a reasonable 

 point again and keep the tips from get- 

 ting burned. The wonderful foliage seen 

 on some of the best exhibitors* stock is 

 due to nothing else than the constant, 

 intelligent, frequent use of the hose. 

 Once in a while one runs across a man 

 who still sticks to the old idea that it 

 is dangerous to water or syringe plants 



with the sun shining on them, but that 

 kind of fellow is getting scarce and 

 much better stock is grown than former- 

 ly as a consequence. Evaporation is so 

 rapid in our climate that no harm can 

 possibly result from spraying at mid- 

 day. 



Plants intended for 6-inch pots should 

 be got out of the sand and potted as 

 soon as they are rooted. Don't leave 

 them too long, to make a weak growth, 

 but pot into good soil and encourage 

 them in every way possible. Greenfly is 

 very apt to be troublesome on late cut- 

 tings, and if this is your case, give 

 the plants a good dusting with tobacco 

 dust, because delicate little plants will 

 not grow unless they are clean and free 

 from insects. Charles H. Totty. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM SOCIETY. 



Prizes for the Chicago Show. 



W. Wells, of Merstham, Surrey, Eng- 

 land, offers gold, silver gilt and silver 

 medals for six varieties of chrysanthe- 

 mums, two of each on 12-inch stems. 

 The following varieties are eligible in 

 this competition: Mrs. H. Partridge, 

 Mrs. D. Willis James, Merstham Crim- 

 son, Mary Ann Pockett, Beatrice May, 

 T. Eichardson, Mrs. Heaume, E. J. 

 Brooks, Mrs. F. F. Thompson, Mrs. Will- 

 iam Knott, Mrs. J. E. Dunn and Miss 

 May Siddon. 



Prizes of $50, $25, and $10 are of- 

 fered for twelve blooms on 24-inch 

 stems for the best seedlings or sports 

 not yet in commerce, the color to be 

 white, pink or yellow, the names to be 

 given by the donor of the prize. 



Charles H. Totty offers prizes of $12, 

 $8 and $5 for twelve blooms in twelve 

 varieties, stems not over twelve inches 

 long, introductions of 1906; open to all. 



P. E. Pierson offers a silver cup for 

 thirty-six chrysanthemums, six varieties, 

 six blooms of each, introduced in Amer- 

 ica in 1905 and 1906. 



Nathan Smith & Son offer $25 for the 

 best twenty-four blooms of American 

 origin, introductions of 1904, 1905 and 

 1906. Three varieties, white, pink and 

 yellow; eight blooms of each shown in 

 separate vases. 



Vaughan's Seed Store offers a silver 

 cup, value $15, for best specimen bush 

 chrysanthemum plant which has not re- 

 ceived any other award; open to private 

 gardeners only. 



David Fraser, Sec'y. 



Fort Worth, Tex. — McCart & An- 

 derson say business for the spring of 

 1906 was double what it was in 1905. 



BEAUTIES. 



During the first two months after 

 benching is the period to lay a good 

 foundation for winter blooming stock. 

 During this growing season their wants 

 require careful studying and close obser- 

 vation, and no hard and fast cultural 

 rules can be strictly adhered to. The 

 attending conditions, such as soil, water, 

 aspect, situation of the house and cli- 

 matic changes all have to be taken into 

 consideration and duly weighed. The 

 sudden changes to which our climate is 

 subject make one of the most annoying 

 phases of Beauty growing. 



During very hot weather, which we 



may now expect, young Beauty stock, if 

 in a healthy condition, will require 

 copious supplies of water, and if the 

 drainage is as perfect as it ought to be 

 there is little danger of overwatering. 

 Syringing will also have to be practiced 

 frequently, the young, tender leaves at 

 this season being very subject to the 

 attacks of red spider. 



Because of these frequent drenchings 

 the soil will require frequent stirring to 

 keep the surface in good condition, and 

 if the weather becomes cloudy and un- 

 settled, great care will be needed not to 

 get the foliage too soft, as this may 

 lead to an attack of black spot, which 

 can in a great measure be prevented by 

 increasing care in ventilating and water- 

 ing. Care in watering consists in a 

 thorough examination of the soil in the 

 benches, using accurate judgment as to 

 weather conditions before applying the 

 hose, and watering those spots which are 



