462 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JULT 12, 1906. 



One pint of water; one pint of sulphuric 

 acid. The acid must not be of the same 

 bulk as the water, but of the same 

 weight, which will be less in bulk than 

 the water because the sulphuric acid has 

 much higher specific gravity, or weight. 

 Place these two in a stone jar. One- 

 gallon jars are good. The acid will eat 

 through tin, galvanized iron or fiber 

 vessels. At sunset put into each jar you 

 use two and a half ounces of cyanide 

 of potassium, 'ihe combination of the 

 cyanide with the acid generates a deadly 

 gas which stops the work of lungs, but 

 is harmless to the vegetable kingdom. 

 This quantity is for every 1,000 cubic 

 feet of atmosphere in the house; keep 

 the house closed all night. 



I say do this at sunset because at 

 that time we never noticed the slightest 

 harm to any plant, but experimenting 

 once at noon, several plants were hurt. 

 This is accounted for by the fact that 

 at noon the plants were more or less ex- 

 hausted, while at sunset and during the 

 following hours the sap had returned to 

 the tissues of the plants and their re- 

 sistant powers were at the strongest. A 



house of violets, using the strength 

 quoted, will be entirely uninjured, ex- 

 cept perhaps a few sickly and enfeebled 

 plants. 



Now, don't think you can improve on 

 this by doubling the quantities and mak- 

 ing one jar do for 2,000 cubic feet of 

 atmosphere. That would be a mistake. 

 Equalize the gas as mucu as possible 

 through the house. To find out the cubic 

 feet of atmosphere in a house may seem 

 a little troublesome, yet it is simple. 

 Find out how many superficial feet 

 there are in the gable end of your house 

 and multiply this by its length and you 

 have the cubic amount. 



There is one point left. This gas will 

 kill all fully developed insects, but it 

 will not kill the eggs, so the dose must 

 be repeated two weeks after the first to 

 insure a complete destruction of the 

 little fly. Buy your cyanide in little 

 parcels of two and a half ounces each, 

 so that they are convenient to drop into 

 each jar, and when the last of the 

 cyanide is dropped get yourself out of 

 the house. Don 't stop to light your 

 pipe. W. S. 



Lorraine Begonias. 



Last week I promised to have more to 

 say about that important midwinter 

 plant, Begonia Gloire de Lorraine, so I 

 jumped on a car and made a visit to the 

 establishment of S. A. Anderson, on 

 Liinwood avenue, where Joseph Streicht 

 is manager, and wonderfully well does he 

 manage this small city place. In the ac- 

 quisition of the Eebstock place on Elm- 

 wood avenue Joe will have a chance to 

 show his versatility in a much wider 

 field. If Joseph can grow any one thing 

 better than another it is this popular be- 

 gonia; few in the country can do it bet- 

 ter. 



There is not much to add on the sub- 

 ject to what I said last week, and just 

 how I found his plants is more of a 

 guide than any theory of my own. Last 

 December I saw his young plants in 

 2-inch pots propagated in September and 

 October from cuttings, not leaves. He 

 uses the ends of shoots of several joints 

 and cuts at the base of a leaf, where 

 there is a good eye, which will make a 

 good lateral growth. This is better than 

 propagating by the leaf detached from 

 the stem. They root quicker and more 

 surely. When well rooted they are 

 potted into 2-inch and carefully watered; 

 that is, watered only when decidedly dry. 

 After New Year's the young growths 

 from the semi-tuberous root will be push- 

 ing to the surface. Then the cutting 

 that is above the soil, which has a tend- 

 ency to flower because it is of terminal 

 growth, can be pinched out. 



In January or February tiiese little 

 plants, still in 2-inch pots, are greatly 

 benefited by having the surface of the 

 soil carefully stirred. The benefit in 

 stirring is not so easily explained, yet all 

 practical gardeners know its great bene- 

 fit, not only to plants in pots in which 

 the soil has become hard and baked, but 

 more especially to plants in the field. 



From November to the end of March 

 these begonia plants may be considered 

 as almost dormant and water is neces- 

 sary only when quite dry. By the end 

 of March or early April the growth from 

 the roots or corm will be showing more 

 vigor and the strongest can then be 

 selected and shifted into 3-inch pots and 

 about now will be ready for 4-inch. We 

 found many in 4-inch, bushy plants six 

 or seven inches in diameter, that will, if 

 encouraged, make very large plants, and 

 also many that were very recentl;^ shifted 

 from a 2-inch to 3-inch pots, tine little 

 plants, and some still in 2-inch pots, 

 which Mr. Streicht has every confidence 

 will make good plants by Christmas. 



The 3-inch and 4-inch plants were on 

 the south bench of an equal-span house 

 and over them, on the outside of the 

 glass, was a lath shading. There is no 

 better summer shading. It is put on 

 about 10 a. m. and removed about 4 p. 

 m. The ventilation at the roof was all 

 that he could give. The shading is a 

 great point. Few plants like the exclu- 

 sion of sunlight, but many object to the 

 full rays of the sun, especially under the 

 very artificial conditions which prevail on 

 a greenhouse bench, with the roots 

 cramped in a pot. 



It occurs to me to mention a few 

 prominent commercial plants that want 

 this careful shading; i. e., shade when 

 the sun shines brightly and no shade 

 when it does not: The begonia family, 

 the gloxinia and the cyclamen, and un- 

 less you are anxious and attentive on this 

 subject you will only be a seventh-rater 

 in growing these pretty florists' flowers. 



Let me add that these very thrifty 

 Cfloire de Lorraine were potted in a very 

 liberal proportion of leaf-mold, which 

 their very fibrous roots delight in. 



All the above are scarcely seasonable 

 hints, but we know that there are many 

 good gardeners who are not thoroughly 



familiar with the peculiarities of this 

 hybrid begonia. There may be other 

 methods of growing this begonia, but 

 what I see I believe, and as some of my 

 illustrious countrymen say, ' ' The proof 

 of the pudding is in the eating." 



Impatiens Holstit. 



We lately made the acquaintance of a 

 very striking plant, Impatiens Holstii, a 

 balsam from Zanzibar, a small island on 

 the east coast of Africa near the equator, 

 the center of the ivory and the slave 

 trade, where if sin and iniquity still live. 

 Flora's fair blossoms flourish. This bal- 

 sam is far more attractive than Impatiens 

 Sultani. It has bright, vermilion-scarlet 

 flowers of more than one inch in diam- 

 eter. Seeds can be sown in the spring, 

 when it will flower all summer and we 

 have the opinion of an expert that if 

 propagated at the end of July from 

 lateral growths of the stronger stems it 

 can be made a very attractive winter- 

 flowering plant. 



Pansies. 



How quickly the seasons revolve. They 

 roll around incredibly fast. Especially 

 is this apparent when you reach the 

 shady side of half a century, and this 

 cornes home when we remember that it 

 will soon be time to sow pansies. There 

 is more than one riiethod of growing 

 pansies. If you cultivate them in a 

 coldframe covered with sashes, then the 

 middle of August is time enough to sow, 

 but grown in the field they should be 

 sown sometime between July 20 and 

 August 1. Just to be reminiscent a 

 moment, in the fall of 1871 1 sowed pansy 

 seed on September 1 and transplanted 

 into a frame and covered with a sash, 

 carefully guarded against overheating or 

 extreme cold during winter, and when 

 April came sold the few thousand plants 

 at $1 per dozen, and did not have enough. 

 There is no such price now, yet if you 

 will grow whatever you grow far superior 

 to the common herd you will get your re- 

 ward. If today is a little early to sow, 

 it's not too early to procure the seed. 



Sow in a well prepared bed, a bed of 

 sandy loam or light soil of any texture 

 that has been raked clear of all sticks, 

 stones, lumps and old crinolines. Sow 

 broadcast, thinly, and very lightly rake 

 the surface of the bed. This will cover 

 the seed sufficiently. If you know how, 

 very gently tap the bed with the back 

 of a shovel. This will hasten the germi- 

 nation of the seed. 



There was a time when I preached and 

 practiced the sowing of pansy seed under 

 the shade of a tree or in a frame shaded 

 with sashes. It's only the fool that does 

 not alter his opinion, so now I say there 

 is no need of either of those methods. 

 Let your seedbeds be in the broad sun. 

 The pansy is quick to germinate and dur- 

 ing the few days intervening between 

 sowing seed and the little plants show- 

 ing through the ground, keep the beds 

 constantly moist. Evening and morning 

 watering may not be enough. Water 

 ten times a day if necessary and never 

 let the surface of the bed become 

 parched. I will lell you later how to 

 protect pansies during winter, 



William Scott, 



FLOWERS IN MEAT MARKETS. 



In some of the larger cities in Canada 

 the meat markets buy the growers' sur- 

 plus cut flowers and flowering plants, 

 using them for decorations and for 

 cheap sales. The perennial discussion 



