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696 



ThcWeddy Rorists' Review. 



August 9, 1906. 



suitable small bowls. The window is at- 

 tractively arranged around the aquarium. 

 Mr. Hughes also sells fish supplies of all 

 kinds and finds it a profitable side line. 

 The establishment of Mr. Hughes is 

 situated in the heart of the west side 

 residence district, and is near several 

 hospitals, so the cut flower department is 

 kept busy. 



, SUMMER FLOWERS SOUTH. 



We note the query of S. B. S. and the 

 reply of D. in the issue of July 26. The 

 plan for growing Kaiserins and Cochets 

 strikes us as being too expensive for 

 summer stuflf at the usual summer price 

 of, say, $1 per dozen for the best grade, 

 with the certainty of having to throw 

 away at least one-third to one-half of 

 what is grown. A great many customers 



will not have roses in summer. They 

 claim that they fade too quickly. This 

 is especially- true of pink roses. Sum- 

 mer carnations are what we really need. 

 They suit the popular purse and the 

 popular taste; but to make them pay, 

 they must be grown cheaply. 



We have never heard of Moonlight's 

 being a good summer bloomer. Those 

 that we have tried have shown themselves 

 weak growers, but the fault may have 

 been in the stock. We have heard of 

 summer flowers being grown under can- 

 vas, petunias, gladioli and such, but have 

 never had any experience with them. 

 Would Kaiserin stand the shade of thin 

 canvas where the rays of the sun are 

 direct, and where the mercury plays bc- 

 twecH 90 and 100 degrees during the 

 hottest part of the day for four months 

 and more? Has any southern grower 

 tried it! L. J. 



CARNATION NOTES.-EAST. 



Bench SoiL 



While carnation culture is by no 

 means wholly dependent on the soil em- 

 ployed in the benches, it will be evident 

 to any one that without a congenial 

 place from which to draw the necessary 

 food supply, returns from the plants 

 will be unsatisfactory. From the fore- 

 going it must not be inferred that if we 

 make the soil rich enough in plant food, 

 everything is provided, for, as will be 

 noted, the source of food supply is re- 

 ferred to as a congenial place to obtain 

 the necessary amount, meaning that the 

 soil must be in good mechanical condi- 

 tion, and must contain certain fertilizing 

 elements also. 



Beginners are apt to make sure that 

 the soil is rich enough, in fact, they nwiy 

 overdo the matter, when it is far more 

 important that its mechanical state be 

 given every attention, especially as this 

 property of the soil cannot be remedied 

 later on, though plant food can be added 

 as occasion requires. In fact, it has 

 been proven to be best for the plants 

 when added later, and is more econom- 

 ical. 



The following simple experiment with 

 a few freshly dug plants from the field 

 will serve to show the carnation 's ability 

 to utilize energy stored up within, or, if 

 you choose, the Heedlessness of supplying 

 much food at the time of benching. 

 Carefully wash all soil from the roots, 

 pot in 4-inch or 5-inch, according to size, 

 using finely sifted coal ashes slightly 

 moistened; if they are fresh from the 

 ash-pit you may be quite sure that little 

 plant food is present. You may be sur- 

 prised at the growth made and the 

 blooms produced before the plants show 

 signs of exhaustion. 



As regards using a layer of manure 

 on the bottom of the benches, we have 

 found this plan a good one to follow, 

 but should advise against the use of 

 manure which is well rotted — not that 

 any harm will be done, but that there 

 will be little advantage gained. 



The general opinion, or at least the 

 advice, of many writers advocates the 

 use of well rotted manure in all horti- 

 cultural operations. This is no doubt 

 good practice in certain cases, such as 

 with plants grown wholly for foliage, 

 or those of slow growth, which bloom 

 only at long intervals. Those which 

 must live the strenuous life seem to ap- 

 preciate soil enriched with manure in the 

 first stages of decomposition better than 

 that which has lost a large percentage 

 of its fertilizing elements through fer- 

 mentation or leaching. 



Tobacco Stems. 



Several years ago we tried tobacco 

 stems in a section of bench with good 

 results, but their cost with us is too 

 great to warrant continued use. 



Depth of Soil. 



I do not in the least doubt Mr. Baur's 

 success or question his advice in the use 

 of soil three inches in depth, but from 



personal experience and observation of 

 others, should advise a depth of at least 

 four inches with the average New Eng- 

 land soil; having tried soils from vari- 

 ous parts of this section, I find a vast 

 difference in their natural wearing ca- 

 pacity, and we may be pardoned for 

 envying the growers of Indiana and ad- 

 jacent states, possessed, as they are, of 

 a soil second to none. 



Geo. S. Osborn. 



STARTING PALM SEEDS. 



Will you kindly inform me through 

 your columns the best way to germinate 

 or start kentia palm seed? I have 

 plenty of leaf-mold and good rotted sod 

 soil, charcoal and fiber' for compost. 

 Please advise a good mixture of the same. 



T. T. C. 



The best method for the germination 

 of kentia seeds is to plant them in a 

 bench containing about four inches of 

 soil, three inches of the latter being 

 placed on the bench and smoothed down, 

 then the seeds sown quite close together, 

 and finally covered with an inch of soil, 

 and the whole bed then given a good 

 watering. ~" 



The seeds slu)uld be sown in a house in 

 which a temperature of not less than 60 

 degrees is maintained during the winter, 

 as they will occupy the space for many 

 months, for these seeds germinate very 

 irregularly and while some may come 

 through in two months' time, there may 

 be others that will not show for nearly a 

 year. 



As to the spil in question, a mixture of 

 equal proportions of the leaf-mold and 

 rotted Bod would answer very well for 

 the bottom soil, and the seeds might be 

 covered with the leaf-mold only, if it is 

 well rotted and free from fungus. In 

 the east we usually use peat for a cover- 

 ing of the seeds, and sometimes for the 

 entire bed, but the leaf-mold would an- 

 swer very well. 



During the summer the seedbed may 

 not need watering oftener than once or 

 twice a week, and a light shade on the 

 glass will save it from drying out too 

 much, but after firing begins in the fall 

 it may require water more frequently, 

 for the seeds should be kept always 

 moist. W. H. T. 



Sweet Peas Indoors. 



The writer had intended to dilate this 

 week on what he knows about forcing 

 sweet peas for winter blooming, but the 

 valuable and interesting notes by A. C. 

 Zvolanek on this subject, published in 

 the Review of July 26, page 582, leave 

 little to be said on the subject. 



Some five or six years ago I used to 

 write that you could not expect to flower 

 sweet peas before April 1, and I was not 

 so far wrong after all, for these early- 

 flowering varieties were not generally 

 known at that time, and the fine old 

 varieties like Emily Henderson, Blanche 

 Ferry and Catherine Tracy, grand as 



they are for outdoor culture, are useless 

 for winter forcers. Mr. Zvolanek has 

 told of the long years of labor and 

 perseverance it took to produce these 

 winter-flowering varieties. 



It is two weeks early to sow the seed, 

 but not too early to prepare the beds. 

 Last year we were fairly successful with 

 these sweet peas. We sowed on August 

 18, and picked our first flowers Novem- 

 ber 20. By Christmas there was an 

 abundant picking. Christmas Pink we 

 sowed in the bed where it flowered, but 

 Florence Denzer, the early white, was 

 sown in 3-inch pots and they were never 

 in any respect equal to the Christmas 

 Pink. 



