Mahcii 8, 1006. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



J055 



Seed Sowing. 



This will be the month of seed sow- 

 ing in the greenhouses. Annuals, such 

 as zinnia, ten-weeks' stocks and Phlox 

 Drummondii, will be soon enough f£ sown 

 about the middle of the month, because 

 you cannot give them bench room till 

 the relief of Easter has come. When 

 occupying flats, after transplanting from 

 the seed flats, a cold frame is the best 

 ])lace you can afford for them. Asters 

 for earliest crop should be sown at once. 

 Sow thinly, for if the seed is fresh it will 

 surely come up thicker than you intended 

 and before you can get at the transplant- 

 ing they have long and spindling stems, 

 a bsd foundation for their future health 

 and strength. 



Shade and a temperature of 50 degrees 

 will do very well till the seedlings ar'^ 

 through the soil. From then on thcv 

 niu>*t have the fullest light and can do 

 with a few degrees less heat. The prin- 

 cipal object is to prevent them fro? 

 (.Irawing up, witli a thin, weak stem. 



Transplanting Seedlings. 



it may be well to mention here my 

 version of transplanting these little seed- 

 lings. The flat should be three inches 

 deep, the soil made moderately firm, 

 with sTuooth, even surface. With a blunt 

 dibble, half an inch or more in widtb, 

 make a deep hole. Then let the seed- 

 ling down, with its roots hanging 

 straight, not bent upwards. Always in- 

 sert the plant deep enough to let its 

 seed leaves rest on the surface of the 

 soil. The next most important thing to 

 observe is to insert the dibble into the 

 soil by the side of the plant so that the 

 soil is pressed firmly around the roots. 

 Some men who call themselves gardeners 

 will do all the squeezing around the neck 

 of the tender stem at the surface and 

 leave the roots dangling in space. Many 

 may say that water will settle the ^il 

 around the roots. Partially, it will, but 

 not sufficiently. We have passed through 

 this experience years ago, and trusted 

 to workmen who ought to have known 

 better, with the loss of thousands of 

 asters. 



Firming the Soil. 



Years ago Peter Henderson, in his lit- 

 tle book. Gardening for Profit, laid par- 

 ticular stress on tnis operation in con- 

 nection with planting out cabbage, cauli- 

 flower and celery. He calls it firming 

 the soil and nothing in all his practical 

 writing is truer. It is equally true of 

 the infantile succulent asters, a cab- 

 bage or a Norway spruce or American 

 elm. You must have the soil in close 

 contact with the roots and fibers or they 

 will not take hold and support them- 

 selves. All these simple things a florist 

 and gardener should know, but, alas, they 

 don't or, in correct English, "don't you 

 know ' ' they do not ! 



Care for the Asters. 



It will be noticed in tlie fall that asters 

 are not injured by one or two degrees 

 of "frost, yet when quite succulent two 



degrees will kill them. Last year, being 

 crowded, we moved out from a green- 

 house twenty or thirty flats, about 2,000 

 strong, young plants, beneath the shade 

 of the old apple tree. Two degrees of 

 frost descended on this particular part 

 of the northern hemisphere and they 

 were as dead as the Philippine tariff bill 

 (shame on the senate). 



Starting Dahlias. 



Dahlias have been much in fashion for 

 several years and the quantity grown 

 in several establishments is prodigious. 

 Young plants propagated this spring are 

 quite as satisfactory for growing an 

 abundance of flowers as the old roots 

 and I think for producing prize flowers 

 the spring-struck plants are to be pre- 

 ferred. Old roots that you have win- 

 tered can be placed on a bench where 

 there is some bottom heat and sufficient 

 soil or decayed manure scattered on the 

 roots, but only enough to just hide the 

 tubers. At the apex of the tubers, or 

 where they adhere to the old stems, are 

 buds which will soon start and grow. 

 These cut off three or four joints long 

 and inserted in the propagating bed will 

 soon root and should be potted and grown 

 on. After once established in the small 

 pots they should have the fullest light 

 and plenty of syringing to keep down 

 spider and thrips. You cannot overdo 

 dahlias in the matter of deep, rich soil 

 and abundance of water in a dry time. 

 While the type of dahlias known as 

 "show," with their ])erfect form and 

 magnificent colors, are the queens of these 

 old favorites, the single, cactus and pom- 

 pon types arc best suited for the florist. ^ 



Geraniums for Memorial Day. 



You might select just now a few hun- 

 dred of your best 3-inch zonal gera- 

 niums and shift them firmly into 5-inch 

 pots, using a rather stiff" loam with a 

 4-inch pot of bone flour to a bushel of 

 soil. These of course are not for bed- 

 ding plants, but fill a demand on Me- 

 morial day. A 4-inch pot plant with one 

 truss of flower scarcely fills the bill and 

 you can easily get double the ])rice for 

 the 5-inch plant with three or four 

 flowers and they will have taken up lit- 

 tle more space on the bench. Nothing 

 but the lightest bench will grow a double 

 geranium as it should be grown. 



Of course plants that you select for 

 this purpose should have been stopped 

 some weeks ago and have three or four 

 breaks or lateral growths. Varieties 

 that are the best for summer bedding 

 may not always be the most suitable for 

 this purpose. S. A. Nutt is good for 

 any purpose, and so is Beauty Poitevine. 

 Marquis de Castellane is a fine red, 

 Gloire de France a good bright salmon 

 and our flesh pink is Miss Frances Per- 

 kins. More good varieties could be men- 

 tioned, but as in many other florists' 

 flowers, a great variety is not needed. A 

 good supply of the favorites is what you 

 want. I should add to the above a few 

 John Doyle, a compact, robust-growing 

 variety of the richest scarlet and just 

 the sort for the purpose. 



Buy Easter Stock Now. 



I can only conclude by giving you ad- 

 vice on preparing for Easter. If you 

 are short of rubbers, pandanuses, kentias 

 and, above all, i)lants that will with 

 proper care flower at the right time, buy 

 them now and don't wait till the stock 

 is culled and sold out. There are few 

 plants at the present day that have had 

 the ])opularity of tlie nephrolepis and 

 of all its varieties and forms none is so 

 p()I)ular as Scotti. From experience in 

 our own business we have lately, found 

 tliat the nmny forms of this nephrolepis, 

 Seottii is the most fascinating. 



William Scott. 



LIQUID FOOD. 



During the remainder of the season 

 where the plants are healthy and vigor- 

 ous and the benches full of roots, stimu- 

 lants in a liquid form can be used with 

 great benefit. For this purpose there 

 is nothing better or safer than the liquid 

 from fresh cow manure, which contains 

 nearly all the elements necessary to plant 

 life and in their proper proportions. 



To derive full benefit from this, the 

 manure should be placed in a tank and 

 allowed to ferment. To create speedy 

 fermentation the water should be at a 

 temperature of not less than 70 de- 

 grees, after which it should be drained 

 off into another tank and diluted to safe 

 proportions. 



For a first application the liquid 

 should be rather weak until the plants 

 become accustomed to this class of food, 

 when the preparation can be made 

 stronger without, incurring any danger. 



The proper time to apply this food is 

 when the young shoots have attained a 

 length of over four inches and should 

 be continued at least once every alter- 



