1780 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



May 10, 1906. 



shoe-nail is the only nail to use to hold 

 your glass down ; you 'vvill finu it will 

 take a good hold in the wood and stay 

 with vou. 



A few words about glass for green- 

 houses. Second quality glass is what 

 mostly is used, and occasionally we find 

 some one that uses single thick. In case 

 of hail there will be less breakage where 

 double thick is used. I would advise 

 florists to use double thick glass. I be- 

 lieve glass should be spaced sixteen inches 

 in width ; we find this makes a stronger 

 house and there is less breakage. 



Benches and Ventilation. 



The arrangement of benches is gener- 

 ally left to the florist and is planned to 

 suit the kind of stock grown. They 

 should be placed so that the walks come 

 along the sides of the house. You get 



a better circulation of air and the houses 

 will last much longer. The cypress ma- 

 terial is best for the bottoms of the 

 benches. "While the cost is greater, it 

 will outlast any other kind of wood and 

 will be cheaper in the end. 



Concrete made of ashes, sand and 

 cement is now generally used to make 

 solid beds. I believe in the next ten 

 years concrete will be an important fac- 

 tor in the building of greenhouse founda- 

 tions. 



The ventilation of houses is an open 

 question with the florists. Some want 

 continuous lines on both sides of the 

 ridge and others want top sash and 

 spaces between. We have very little call 

 for side ventilation on commercial houses. 

 I believe houses twenty-eight feet wide 

 and over should have continuous sash on 

 both sides of the ridge. 



CARNATION NOTES-VEST. 



Plantinc; Indoors. 



The method of growing carnations in 

 the house during the summer is coming 

 more and more into vogue each season, 

 and is being advocated by some of our 

 leading carnation specialists. In our ex- 

 perience with this method we find that, 

 while it possesses certain advantages 

 over field culture, yet the advantages are 

 not all on its side by any means. 



Usually you will find that growers 

 who advocate this method do so after 

 having suffered an unfavorable season, 

 during which their plants in the field did 

 not make the usual growth. That you 

 have more complete control over the situ- 

 ation under glass cannot be denied, but 

 the question is, supposing the summer 

 growing season be favorable, under 

 which mode of culture is it possible to 

 produce the most profitable crops during 

 the season? It is not fair to single out 

 an especially unfavorable season and use 

 that for comparison, but such a season 

 as we have four seasons out of five, and 

 I feel safe in saying that percentage is 

 at least fairly favorable to carnation 

 growing in the field. In fact, the only 

 kind of a season in which the grower is 

 unable to help himself is in case of ex- 

 cessive rains. 



It is generally conceded that from in- 

 door stock you are able to cut a higher 

 grade of oiooms early in the fall than 

 you will get from the first crop from 

 late-planted stock grown outside, but 

 when housing is done early in July, very 

 often just as good stock can be cut from 

 field-grown plants. If a variety is 

 naturally a cropper, you can cut more 

 evenly through the winter season from 

 indoor plants than you can from the 

 others. 



Varieties that do not transplant read- 

 ily, of course do best when grown inside, 

 as they are not disturbed at a time when 

 they are least able to stand it. For 

 years we have favored growing Lawson 

 under glass all summer, and it seems to 

 like that mode of culture; but we find 

 that where housed early and carefully 



handled until it resumes active growth, 

 the outdoor plants will give a heavier 

 midwinter crop, and of just as high 

 quality as the others. If planted by the 

 middle of July the early blooms will 

 have as long stems and there will be no 

 more splits. However, if you plant Law- 

 son after the middle of August you need 

 not expect to cut good stems before Jan- 

 uary. 



Tor varieties that naturally grow long 

 and straggly outside culture is best. 

 Outdoors the tendency is toward robust- 

 ness and short-jointedness. You will also 

 find that by reason of the shorter joints, 

 when you top a plant in the field it will 

 break from more eyes than it will under 

 glass. So it is easier to obtain a com- 

 pact plant in the field. 



Varieties that are inclined to be 

 grassy are best grown in the field and 

 planted early in August. By that time 

 they ought to have reached a fair size 

 and the check caused by the transplant- 



ing induces them to throw buds, while 

 if no such check occurs they will con- 

 tinue producing grass until toward 

 spring. We are working out of those 

 varieties, however, and we have very few 

 varieties that are inclined that way. 

 The ideal carnation plant breaks readily 

 when topped and grows right into bloom- 

 ing shoots again. 



If you plant your beds from small 

 pots in April or May, you will lose at 

 least two months of the season, and, while 

 carnations are comparatively cheap dur- 

 ing these two months, yet the profit is 

 quite enough to be considered. If you 

 shift the young plants as they need it, 

 with a view to planting on the benches 

 in July, then you will find a lot of work 

 and close attention called for, and if 

 you are a retailer and grow bedding 

 stock, you will find this a mighty bur- 

 densome undertaking. They will have to 

 be looked after and perhaps shifted, 

 whether you are busy or not. A two 

 weeks' wait may mean a stunt or hard- 

 ening off that will take months to get 

 over. They must be watered daily at 

 least. 



If you plant in the field you can 

 usually finish before the spring rush be- 

 gins and little or no care is required for 

 a few weeks. In July and August you 

 are better able to give all the care they 

 need, as business is at that time at a 

 low ebb. 



I do not wish to discourage the use 

 of the indoor method; in fact, I think 

 rather well of it if you are prepared to 

 give it the proper attention, but that it 

 is hardly practical for certain classes of 

 growers i am just as certain. Those who 

 grow carnations or cut flowers exclu- 

 sively can give the necessary attention at 

 the proper time, but for the retail grower 

 there is too much time called for just 

 when he is busy elsewhere. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY 



Department of Res[istration. 



John Beimels, Woodhaven, N. Y.^ 

 registers Carnation Winsome, Scott shade 

 of pink and about the same growth as 

 Scott when it was first introduced; it 



Gardenia Jasminoides, the Cape Jasmine. 



