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AuaosT 2, 1906. 



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The Weekly Horists^ Review* 



635 



Harrisii Lilies. 



A very imijortant article in our busi- 

 ness has just arrived, the Bermuda 

 lilies. Get them potted at once. For 

 5x7 bulbs 5-inch pots will do; for 7x9 

 bulbs 6-inch pots will pay best. Use 

 a good loam or decayed sod, but avoid 

 fresh manure. Cover each bulb, leaving 

 only the top visible at the surface of 

 the soil. Place outdoors and cover with 

 two inches of stable litter, sandy soil 

 or some material that will keep the sun 

 from parching them every day. They 

 should also be in a frame, so that in ease 

 of a wet time they can be covered with 

 sashes. They should not be taken into 

 the houses until the growth appears 

 above the temporary covering. 



There often is a failure with these 

 early forced lilies. Most often it is the 

 inability to give them a high tempera- 

 ture in November and December, but 

 often it is because the bulbs are lifted 

 too soon, when the stem and foliage are 

 yet green. The Bermuda growers doubt- 

 less are anxious to be early on tlie mar- 

 ket. It is a mistake. All bullmns plants 

 should 1)0 allowed to be thorouglily rijK! 

 before being lifted or the growtli arrest- 

 ed. The philosojihy of this is that while 

 flowering, and for several weeks after- 

 ward, the foliage is helping the bnlh be- 

 low to store up sustenance and dormant 

 vigor for another year. So if these l)ulbs 

 are dug when the stem and leaves are 

 still performing their function, ami stor- 

 ing up for future energy, you can 't 

 expect good results. 



Last winter a brother florist told me 

 that lie heard from a Philadelphian, one 

 of the foremost in the country, the fol- 

 lowing experience: This Philadclpliia 

 man exported to a customer in p]urope a 

 thousand or more Lilium Harrisii in Au- 

 gust and for some reason or other they 

 were refused. The Philadelphian at 

 once cabled to his foreign customer to 

 ship the lilies back again to this country, 

 and they were potted and forced and 

 turned out the most satisfactory he had. 

 I can only see one lesson from this ex- 

 perience; that is, that in the time taken 

 by the ocean voyage and other delays the 

 bulbs had been ripening, so if the bulbs 

 on arrival look green, unpack and lay out 

 in flats with a little sand or dry soil be- 

 neath them and enough of the same ma- 

 terial around them to about cover the 

 bulbs. In this condition they can re- 

 main a month before potting. 



And this brings us to the question 

 whether it is advisable to give them a 

 soaking with water as soon as potted or 

 whether it is better to let them remain 

 a month without water in the dry soil. 

 Surrounded with the soil in the pots, and 

 covered with the mulch over the pots, the 

 bulbs will certainly not suffer. We have 

 never tried this on any of the longiflorum 

 type of lilies, but we have on the spe- 

 ciosum or lancifolium class, and found 

 it a good plan. When received they 

 were potted and placed under a bench 

 and not a drop of water given them, and 

 as they started they were lifted to the 

 light. The premature lifting of the lily 



bulb is the cause of much disappoint- 

 ment in forcing these beautiful plants. 



Asters. 



Don't let your asters suffer for want 

 of water at this season. We have had an 

 acre of which we were very proud, and 

 then a long, dry August set in, and we 

 had nothing but a crop of single flowers. 

 A sprinkling is no good. They want a 

 thorough irrigation or you will not get 

 good flowers. 



Carnations. 



Our experience in western New York 

 is that this is the ideal time to house 

 carrat'.ons from the field. The plants 

 may not be large; that is of no con- 

 sequence. They have lots of time to 

 grow indoors. The growth is hard and 

 short-jointed. If they lose a few fibres 

 they don't feel it, for they have not 

 much growth to support, and how they 



do enjoy the change from the parched 

 ground in the field to the genial mois- 

 ture of the bench! How different from 

 the soft, succulent growth of Septem- 

 ber that, with p(^rfect lifting and in- 

 side treatment, for a few days wilts 

 down daily and takes all the vitality out 

 of their leading shoots, which should 

 produce flowers. How we have pro- 

 gressed in the cultivation of this most 

 popular flower! 



Hollyhocks. 



I am reminded that this is a good 

 time to sow hollyhocks. The disease is 

 still with us; so bad is it that we are 

 discouraged. W. W. Wilmore, of Den- 

 ver, tells me it is not known in Colo- 

 rado. In our severe winters the seed- 

 lings will not stand the winters out- 

 doors, so it is well to sow in drills in a 

 frame, where they can be covered with 

 sashes, or evergreen brush, or straw. 

 Every retail greenhouse man is asked for 

 them and it is diflBcult to procure good 

 plants. Procure the best strain of seed 

 you can and you will have no difficulty 

 in selling all the plants you raise. The 

 day is past when the hollyhock flowers 

 are used singly for any purpose, but as 

 spikes they are in demand for large deco- 

 rations and for mixed borders. Against 

 shrubbery they are majestic and pictur- 

 esque, far moje so than the formal dahlia. 



WILLLA.M Scott. 



FERTILIZERS FOR CARNATIONS. 



Will you kindly inform me as to what 

 is the best fertilizer to mix with the 

 soil for carnations? I have some blood, 

 bone and potasii. Would you use it in 

 mixing? Is pure bone dust a good 

 fertilizer? W. B. 



I should prefer to use the blood, bone 

 and potash later on as a top-dressing, 

 when the plants need feeding. Before 

 planting your carnations on the benches, 

 mix into the soil some pure ground 

 bone. Twenty-five to thirty-five pounds 

 to 500 square feet of bench space is 

 enough. There are so many brands and 

 grades of ground bone that one some- 

 times is undecided what to buy. For 

 several seasons we uaeil a very finely 

 ground bone flour. This is quick in 

 action because it is ground so fine, 

 and becomes soluble so much qiiicker. 

 For quick results it is excellent. Of 

 late years, however, we have been using 

 a coarser grade, called pure ground bone. 

 This is ground about as fine as corn 

 meal, and contains particles as large as 

 bird shot, as well as a good proportion 

 of dust. This grade will give more 

 lasting results, as it takes some time for 

 the coarser particles to become soluble. 



Bone meal is considered by far the 

 safest and best fertilizer to mix into 

 the soil at planting time. All others 

 are added later on a.s top-dressing, or 

 in liquid form as they are needed. The 

 main thing is to get good, pure bone 

 meal that has not been cut with acids. 

 Buv from some reputable house. 



A. F. J. B. 



RED SPIDER ON CARNATIONS. 



I am sending you samples of some 

 carnation plants 1 have just received. 

 On unpacking them they showed brown 

 on the tips of the foliage. I planted 

 them immediately on getting them, and 

 gave them good attention. They did not 

 have a good color when they arrived, 

 ('an you tell me what is the matter with 

 them? B. F. K. 



The plants are badly affected with red 

 spider, and if these plants are a fair 

 sample of the lot, then you are likely to 

 have much trouble before you are 

 through with them. From the looks of 

 the plants I judge they are Mrs. Lawson 

 or one of its sports. These varieties are 

 poor shippers, even when they are 

 healthy, and when they are handicapped 

 in this way you may be sure there will 

 be plenty of trouble. You will find- that 

 they will lose most of the foliage and 

 it will take fine culture to saive the 

 plants and get them under way in time 

 to be profitable. Last season we bought 

 ,100 Lawson, which were afilicted the 

 same way when they arrived, and they 

 were an eyesore to us all winter. 



I advise you to put supports on them 

 at once, and then syringe them with a 

 strong, cutting spray from both sides 

 every day. Be careful to wet the soil 

 no more than you want it wet normally. 

 After they have been planted a couple 

 of weeks, if they have taken hold of the 

 soil, use the soap solution which I recom- 

 mended recently. Take off the dead 

 foliage when it is quite dry, as it will 

 then break off readily without tearing 

 the bark from the stems. Don 't use any 



