406 



TheWeady Florists' Rcvkw. 



July 5, 1906. 



blQatioo of circumstances that was found 

 to bring trot>ble. The leaves at oiice 

 became curled and puckered and little 

 growth followed. T believe the tissue of 

 the whole plant simply became over- 

 charged with water, and little evapora- 

 tion ,took place. 



If it is the rusty, puckered leaf you 

 are troubled with, then a severe drying 

 out for ten days is the only remedy I 

 know of. Too much w£^ter and too lit- 

 tle sun is the principal cause. Zonal 

 geraniums often lose their leaves or they 

 turn yellow towards bedding out time. 

 Leaves turning yellow is nothing but ex- 

 haustion due to watering them two or 

 three times a day. W. S. 



NOTES FROM ENGLAND, f 



Spanish iris is taking a more iftj- 

 portaiit place in British floriculture than 

 ever before, and the Hollanders report 

 some very heavy sales, both for outdoor 

 planting and forcing. This forcing 

 business is of recent development, and 

 although big quantities are being done, 

 not more than one out of ten growers 

 seems to make really a success of the 

 details of the cultivation. There are 

 four main points to observe: First, com- 

 mence with extra selected bulbs, if pos- 

 sible one size larger than what are 

 usually received from Holland for first 

 size; second, be very careful to let the 

 bulbs make ample root before putting 

 them under glass; third, always see that 

 the boxes are deep enough (eight inches 

 is not too deep) to give ample soil 

 for the roots to feed in; fourth, never 

 subject them to any extremes of temper- 

 ature, and never attempt to force too 

 rapidly. Do not let the frost get 

 through the boxes when standing out- 

 side and do not be afraid of giving 

 plenty of air when they are inside. The 

 following are the varieties used for forc- 

 ing in England in preference to nearly 

 all other sorts: Alex Van Humboldt, 

 light blue; British Queen, a tall white; 

 Cajanus, golden yellow, gold cup; 

 Thunderbold, bronze; Darling, dark 



pl« ift the one day, nearly douUe the 

 i|W3|ber <)i^ last yfear. This is a «ig in- 

 >' crease in, -tib^ public popularity b^ floral 

 life in one year. f ' 



The importance of getting early de- 

 liveijy fit forcing bulbs, and more es- 

 pecialtei.- narcissi, is at last being, fully 

 recogalWd by English nurserymen. 

 Many kte bookiiig orders for narcissi 

 subject to delivery during July. Former- 

 ly It has been thought quite early enough 

 if the bulbs reach our shores the first 

 week in September. This may be all 

 right for bulbs that are not wanted to 

 bloom before February, but such sorts 

 as Golden Spur, omatus and Double Von 

 Sion that are wanted in bloom Christmas 

 week and during January, to attain per- 

 fect success must be boxed up by the 

 end of July and first week in August. 

 The essential point of early forcing is 

 that the bulbs should have as long a 

 time as possible to make roots. Tulips 

 do not appear to suffer so much from 

 late planting, as to a greater extent 

 their bloom is already formed in the 

 dry bulb. 



Palms of -all sorts have suddenly ad- 

 vanced enormously in price in all 

 English markets and also Belgium. 

 Nurserymen in Covent Garden and else- 

 where report better business and at 

 higher prices than for the last five or 

 six years. Probably an advance of an 

 all-round average of fully 100 per cent 

 has taken place. What has caused this 

 big advance is not quite clear to grow- 

 ers and dealers here. Probably the 

 corner in kentia seed in Lord Howe 

 Island, Australia, arranged by Sander 

 & Sons, has affected the situation some- 

 what, and also the destruction of many 

 thousands of aspidistras, araucarias and 

 palms growing outside on the slopes of 

 Vesuvius, has a lot to do with it. Cer- 

 tainly importation of all foliage stuff 

 from Naples has practically stopped for 

 the time being. For some years, owing 

 to the unprofitable prices, less and less 

 has been raised both in England and 

 Belgium, and stocks were getting very 

 low indeed in all sizes, with the result 



Establishment of H. H. G>tton, Nebraska City, Neb. 



blue; Louise, porcelain and yellow; 

 Belle Chinoise, light yellow. 



Quite a sensation is now being ex- 

 perienced in high priced orchid sales. 

 Protheroe & Morris have lately held 

 three more record sales, £4.000 being 

 realized at one sale for less than ninety 

 plants. 



The Koyal Garden, Kew, was visited 

 on "Whit Monday by nearly 100,000 peo- 



tliat if a demand exists prices are bound 

 sooner or later to be forced up. 



J. B. 



ORIENTAL POPPY. 



I want to grow some oriental poppies 

 and am in search of information. Can 

 you give me the desired information, or 

 put me in correspondence with some one 



posted on the subject? It is my idea to 

 buy them from the jobbers, and sell them 

 for fall planting. Is such a plan feas- 

 ible? P. G. 



It is possible to buy young seedling 

 plants now, and by giving them the best 

 of care this summer they would be sal- 

 able this fall. A better plan would be 'to 

 sow seed at once and grow on in frames 

 and not attempt to sell this fall, but take 

 good care of them during winter and 

 make sales in the spring. The oriental 

 poppy propagates by divisions or seed. Of 

 the many species of this showy genus it 

 is the only long-lived perennial. Most 

 of them are annuals, some are biennials. 

 The Iceland poppy lives only two or 

 three years. As we have experienced, 

 the oriental species is not very easily 

 transplanted, but on your own place 

 where good attention can be given there 

 should be no trouble. I should endorse 

 seed sowing at once in preference to buy- 

 ing plants at this late season. W. S. 



THE EAST AND THE WEST. 



As a horticulturist I have spent much 

 time both in the east and the west. I 

 went to Boston to attend the national 

 peony show, which was a grand affair, 

 supplemented by the rose show a week 

 later, when another splendid peony ex- 

 hibit was made. 



Aside from these gatherings I visited 

 Mr. Shaylor, of Wellesley Hills, and saw 

 his choice collection and then spent ten 

 days with T. C. Thurlow, the father of 

 the peony business of New England. He 

 must have nearly 100,000 plants. He 

 also has a large collection of seedlings. 

 I spent some time with his sons in 

 marking those of great promise for 

 further testing. This is what we need. 

 Mr. HoUis, of Weymouth, also has some 

 very choice seedlings. 



In Nebraska, too, we are doing much 

 along this line and two of our favorites, 

 east and west, are Nebraska born. The 

 writer has 50,000 seedlings under way 

 and hopes that among them there will 

 be many of superior merit, so that in the 

 future the lovers of this glorious flower 

 will look to America instead of Europe. 

 Those originated by John Richardson, 

 of Boston, some years ago I notice now 

 stand well at the head of the list and 

 it is hard to supply the demand. After 

 comparing notes for years and closely 

 observing those growing in both sec- 

 tions, I am convinced we can raise as 

 fine ones in Nebraska as in Massachu 

 setts. Phloxes are much healthier in 

 the west. They are not so much sub- 

 ject to mildew. I saw some fields last 

 week that were white with fungus, a 

 condition I never saw in the west. 

 Delphiniums do equally well in both 

 sections, but now for a word of warn- 

 ing: 



Most of our books or gardening and 

 horticulture are published in the east 

 and are sent to westerners, and millions 

 of dollars have been lost in the prairie 

 states by following eastern directions. 

 The broad-leaved evergreens, the azaleas, 

 kalmias, rhododendrons and others of 

 that class cannot live in Nebraska and 

 many of the western states. There is no 

 use in trying them. They are aristo- 

 cratic easterners and will die rather than 

 live in the wild west. You might as well 

 try to transplant a Boston bred lady 

 from her palatial surroundings to a 

 lonely sod house in western Nebraska. 

 I was determined these shrubs should 

 live, and planted 1,000 under a screeta 



