404 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



July 5, 1906. 



straggly and topheavy. Top them every 

 time they make a couple of joints; that 

 is the only ws^y yoa can get bushy plants 

 of these varieties. Keep on topping 

 your plants right up to the time you put 

 them in the house unless you plant very 

 late, and even then there should be no 

 buds on them. 



Treatment in the House. 



If you plant before August 15, there 

 should not be any shoots on the plants 

 that have begun to run up. You don't 

 want then^'to go right to blooming if 

 you plant early. There will be little call 

 for the blooms and it will be a needless 

 tax on the plants. The plants will be 

 much better if allowed to become estab- 

 lished on the bench before they go to 

 blooming, and the first crop of blooms 

 will be much better if the entire shoot 

 is made after the plant is established. 

 So give your plants an opportunity to 

 catch their breath before you set them 

 to work again. Often we see plants dug 

 and brought in with three or four buds 

 on them and a number of half grown 

 shoots, and before setting them in the 

 benches, these will all be cut back. That 

 is a very wrong method. There should 

 be no buds on them when you dig the 

 plants, and if there are you had better 

 leave them until the plants take 

 hold again. Then, if you deem it advis- 

 able you can remove them and any other 

 shoots you think necessary. 



We sometimes keep up the topping 

 for some time after housing. Va- 

 rieties that make poor flowers dur- 

 ing warm weather should not be 

 allowed to develop any blooms until 

 cool weather, and by topping them care- 

 fully you will help them materially later 

 in the season. This subject of topping 

 is a very important one and merits your 

 closest attention from beginning to end. 

 Your success during the winter depends 

 largely on your judgment along this 

 line. If you do not top properly you 

 will have poor plants, and poor plants 

 cannot be expected to produce profitable 



that were planted inside from pots must 

 be topped, too, until they have formed 

 enough shoots to insure a succession of 

 blooms after blooming comm^uces. If 

 yob can use the blooms to advantage, 

 you can let them come along as soon 

 as you have plants of a fair size. They 

 will make better blooms early than the 

 plants lifted from the field. In most 



Claude Wisely. 



cases, however, it pays better to keep off 

 all buds until the middle of August at 

 least. The extra growth that will pro- 

 duce many more extra blooms in the 

 early winter will bring much more than 

 the few blooms you will cut. 



Establishment of Claude Wisely, of Murphysboro, IlL 



crops. On the other hand, if you top 

 too late in the season many varieties 

 will run to grass and refuse to come 

 into crop until late in the season, and 

 much of your profit will be lost. Some 

 varieties will break and run into bud 

 much quicker than others, especially late 

 in the fall, and you must study each 

 variety separately and top accordingly. 

 It is safe, however, to remove every 

 shoot that begins to run up as late as 

 August 10 on all varieties. The plants 



Fertilizers and Watering. 



Have you put on that mulch of loose 

 material yet? If you have not, then do 

 it as soon as practicable, and if you did 

 not mix any bone meal with the soil 

 when you planted, then apply a liberal 

 dressing before you put on the mulch. 

 The plants will soon be in shape to take 

 up larger quantities of food, and bone 

 meal is a great growing fertilizer. After 

 you apply the mulch be careful about 

 the watering. Not nearly so much water 



will be required to keep the soil moist, 

 and unless you examine it occasionally 

 you will be apt to overwater. While the 

 soil has few roots running through it, it 

 is quick to sour if kept too wetj you 

 want to keep it just fairly moist and 

 allow it to get on the dry side about 

 once each week. It will do the plants 

 no harm, and will do the soil lots of 

 good. 



Look out for red spider, and syringe 

 frequently enough to keep them off. TMs 

 is not very difficult if you planted the 

 whole house, but if there is a bench or 

 two of old ones blooming in the same 

 house there may be a little spider on 

 them, and they do spread rapidly during 

 this hot weather. Dampen the walks a 

 couple of times during the middle of 

 the day and keep the ventilators open, 

 but remember that no shade should be 

 over these plants. A. F. J. Baur. 



THE YOUNGEST FLORIST. 



Many items have been published with 

 regard to "the youngest florist," a dis- 

 tinction which has been claimed for 

 many persons. Illinois' youngest florist 

 probably is Claude Wisely, of Murphys- 

 boro, who is now 18 years of age and 

 has been in the business for four years. 

 His grefenhouse establishment was started 

 as a diversion, upon the rear of the lot 

 on which stood his parents' residence. 

 Having a natural inclination for the 

 business, he rapidly enlarged. The illus- 

 tration shows the two houses which be 

 has operated successfully the past 

 couple of seasons. Another house is now 

 in course of erection at the right of those 

 shown in the picture. It is 22x40 and 

 at the street end is to be an office and 

 salesroom. The walls of the new house 

 are of 8-inch concrete. 



ly ALCORN ON PEONIES. 



I have read the report of the peony 

 show at Boston. Now, I have recently 

 come from the old country and what 

 surprises me most of all is the way that 

 beautiful variety. Duchess de Nemours, 

 is ignored. I will not believe it was not 

 shown, and being shown, how is it that 

 it was not among those favorably men- 

 tioned? 



This peerless flower won the gold cup 

 at London in 1903, for Veitch, of Chel- 

 sea. I traveled all over France and 

 bought the available stocks, as I think 

 one that will beat Festiva maxima is 

 good enough for the trade. For those 

 who do not know it, I may say it is 

 not so white as Festiva maxima, but is 

 a flat, very pale cream, with a slight 

 showing of green in the center, which 

 adds to the beauty, making a refresh- 

 ing contrast to the white. Whereas 

 Festiva maxima soon falls, Dachess de 

 Nemours is stiffer and lasts double as 

 long, and this is a very great desider- 

 atum. 



The Hollanders bought this up a few 

 years ago and sent the roots to Amer- 

 ica from England. I quite agree with 

 the president's remarks as to nomen- 

 clature. Personally I have quite 100 

 varieties and I think fifteen more than 

 enough. I suggest the two I have men- 

 tioned, also Couronne d'Or, Marie 

 Lemoine and Canarie. This latter is a 

 beauty when grown well, but so far I 

 have not struck soil good enough for 

 growing peonies at all. One has to make 

 it and it is a strong order. It is almost 

 an impossibility to grow them without a 

 very deep soil, and not only deep but 

 1 rich, the richer the better. This will 



