758 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



August 16, 1906. 



earlier are for very early flowers, and 

 include October Sunshine, Monrovia, 

 Montmort, Miss Alice Byron, Fitzwy- 

 gram, Lady Harriett and Lady Hope- 

 toun. Those who have taken only late 

 buds of Miss Alice Byron have no con- 

 ception of its wonderful depth and fin- 

 ish when caught on a bud early in Au- 

 gust; Monrovia will make a fine early 

 flower in many sections of the country 

 from a late July bud. 



Varieties that do better on a bud 

 taken early in September are Col. Ap- 

 pleton, S. T. Wright, Dr. Enguehard, 

 Jeanne Nonin, Merstham Crimson and 

 the white and yellow Chadwicks. This 

 bud taken in September may still be a 

 crown bud, but, being later in the sea- 

 son, the cooler weather possibly assists 

 its more perfect development. 



The difference between a crown and a 

 terminal bud is easily seen when one 

 once understands the terms. A crown 

 bud is always known by the fact that it 

 has growth shoots around it, while the 

 terminal bud only has smaller buds. 

 Many commercial growers keep removing 

 the buds until the terminal appears, and 

 as a consequence will tell you that many 

 of the finest kinds we have are useless 

 for their work. Nellie Pockett and its 

 BDOTt, Cheltoni, W. Duckham, Leila Fil- 

 lans, F. S. Vallis and many others are 

 superb when taken on a crown bud from 

 the middle of August on, but are thin 

 and poor taken on the terminal bud a 

 month later. 



It is sometimes argued that the neck 

 is long on the crown buds and the color 

 of the flower is much poorer. This ap- 

 plies with little force any more with 

 the kinds we are now growing. The neck 

 is little if any longer except on plants 

 that have been drawn up thin and spin- 

 dling; these would be weak-necked, any- 

 way. As to color, few pinks at any 

 season can approach Lady Hopetoun, 

 flowering early in October from a crown 

 bud taken August 5. 



In taking buds early in the season 

 there are several points that should be 

 kept in mind. Do not remove all the 

 growth shoots at once. If the bud is 

 earlier than you think it should be, do 

 not rub it off and run your chances on 

 getting another one, but let all the shoots 

 stay around it. These will grow and 

 hold the bud in check, whereas if they 

 have all been removed, the sap must 

 necessarily go into the bud, and cause it 

 to swell too soon. After the lapse of 

 a week or so, the shoots can be removed 

 one by one, and no harm is done to the 

 bnd. 



If feeding has been commenced with 

 liquid, it should be greatly reduced or 

 stopped altogether during the process of 

 bud formation, if the plants are large- 

 leaved and gross, because they are al- 

 most at a standstill. This perhaps does 

 not apply to the commercial grower 

 much, whose plants as a general thing do 

 not get feeding enough, but it does apply 

 to a large and increasing class of grow- 

 ers for exhibition, who are pushing their 

 plants all they know how right from the 

 first. A strong dose of chemical has 

 been responsible more than once for the 

 failure of a bud to swell, and there is 

 no sense in wasting good material. 



Charles H. Totty. 



CHRYSANTHEMUMS OUTDOORS. 



I want to ask a question in regard to 

 raising chrysanthemums under canvas 

 outdoors. Do you think it best to put 

 the canvas over the top of the shed as 



soon as the buds form, or does the dew 

 injure the buds? C. F. P. 



While I have had no practical ex- 

 perience in raising chrysanthemums un- 

 der canvas outside, I am safe in saying 

 that the dew will not hurt the bud before 

 it shows color, any more than spraying 

 under glass hurts it. Water sometimes 

 lodges in buds that are cup-shaped, as 

 early buds of Timothy Eaton are, and 

 rots them; but I question if the night 

 dews would be heavy enough to do any 

 damage. If C. F. P. has heavy fall 

 rains in his section, the canvas might be 

 a good protection, but otherwise, as long 

 as no danger from frost threatened, I 

 should say leave the canvas off. 



C. H. T. 



BUD SELECTION. 



Will you please inform me when to 

 take the buas on the following varieties 

 of mums. They were planted in benches 

 out of 4-inch pots May 19, and are for 



exhibition purposes. My plants axe Nel- 

 lie Pockett, Cheltoni, F. S. Vallis, Mrs. 

 G. Heaume, Mrs. H. Partridge, Merza, 

 Wm. Duckham, A. J. Balfour, Mrs. H. 

 Weeks, T. Carrington, J. R. Upton, Min- 

 nie Bailey, Lucy Evans, Janet Lady 

 Clark, Merstham Yellow, C. J. Salter, 

 Belle of Castlewood, Mrs. T. W. Pockett, 

 F. A. Cobbold, Loveliness, Gen. Hutton, 

 Col. D. Appleton, Dr. Enguehard, Mrs. 

 W. B. Chamberlain, Glenview, Golden 

 Wedding, Glory of Pacific, Polly Hose, 

 and Monrovia. F. W. B. 



Without going into detail for each 

 variety specifically, I should say that 

 buds of any of the varieties mentioned, 

 with the exceptions of Col. Appleton 

 and Dr. Enguehard, may safely be taken 

 about August 20. The two varieties 

 named produce better flowers from buds 

 taken the first or second week in Septem- 

 ber. If you will read carefully my notes 

 on buds in this issue, you will probably 

 find all the information you need in bud 

 selection. C. H. T. 



CARNATION NOTES.- VEST. 



Watering. 



As soon as the plants you benched 

 show signs of having gained a new root 

 hold, you want to reduce the syringing. 

 If the day is bright, spray once about the 

 middle of the morning, and wet down the 

 walks again after dinner to keep the 

 atmosphere in a good growing state. 

 See that the plants are dry by night. 

 If you keep up the excessive syringing 

 too long, you are liable to get your plants 

 too soft, and what is still worse, you 

 are likely to start some of the spot dis- 

 eases. After you have broken up the 

 surface of the so^l, you can begin to 

 water liberally, as the plants will be 

 making rapid growth from now on, and 

 the stronger this growth is the better 

 will be your early crop of blooms. 



Removing Shade and Mulching. 



You want to be getting rid of the 

 shade you put on your houses just as 

 fast as the plants will stand it. The 

 quicker it can be done the better. Car- 

 nations like the full sun, and will make 

 a better foundation for the winter 's work 

 than when they are shaded. The growth 

 will not be so rapid, but it will be bet- 

 ter matured and healthy. Rust and spot 

 diseases will not start as readily, either. 



When you have taken off all the shade, 

 you will want to put a light mulch of 

 some loose material on your benches to 

 protect the roots from the sun. The 

 sun is quite hot yet, and will dry out the 

 soil in a short time where it strikes with 

 full force all day. A light mulch will 

 prevent this and will hold in the mois- 

 ture, besides keeping the soil cool. Stable 

 manure that has been piled up about a 

 year and allowed to rot will answer the 

 purpose admirably. Put it on about 

 half an inch thick only. After putting 

 on this mulch you must watch the water- 

 ing more closely. It is easy to get the 



soil too wet when the roots have not yet 

 worked through it, and the sun cannot 

 draw from it. After you have finished 

 planting, pot up a few plants of each 

 variety to be used in filling up where a 

 plant may have failed to take hold here 

 and there, or perhaps has died from stem- 

 rot. Very few may be required, but 

 you will be sure to need a few before 

 winter sets in. Five per cent of what 

 you benched ought to be plenty. By 

 potting them now you will have them re- 

 established when they are needed, and, 

 you can set them right in and no fur- 

 ther care will be needed. 



A. F. J. Baub. 



HINTS FOR A BEGINNER. 



How many square feet of glass should 

 a man have for growing carnations 

 profitably for the wholesale market, if 

 the owner, who has a good knowledge 

 of the business, expects to do the work 

 with a good assistant? C. B. 



Your question has more in it than ap- 

 pears on the surface. In determining 

 how much glass would be required many 

 things must be taken into consideration; 

 I will undertake to point out some of 

 them, and we will try to reach some con- 

 clusion. 



In the first place, it will depend 

 largely on the nature of your outlet and 

 what kind of competition you may have 

 to contend with. If you consign your 

 cut to some good commission house it 

 will not matter so much how large your 

 cut is. It will be handled along with 

 stock from other growers if there is not 

 enough of yours to fill orders completely. 

 For the small grower this is no doubt a 

 good method of disposal. If, however, 

 you mean to sell your stock directly to 

 some retailer, you ought to have enough 

 room so you can plant enough varieties 

 in each color to cover the whole season, 

 and enough of each variety to make it 

 worth while. A shipping business re- 

 quires a plant of considerable size to 

 work to good advantage. 



