1856 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



May 17, 1906. 



about them is inovjible. Tlie roof is 

 made of frames, the piping for heating 

 is often hung on liooks supported on the 

 sides, or in some cases merely hiid on 

 the floor. 



These houses are used for tomatoes in 

 most cases, as soon a.s the bedding stuff i 

 is cleared out at the end of May, and 

 during late autumn and winter for chrys- 

 anthemums, wliich are grown outside 

 during summer and lifted just before 

 bad weather sets in and planted in the 

 houses. As soon as these are cleared, 

 during January, the houses are filled 

 with forcing bulbs, so that growers in 

 this way get four full crops each year 

 from the houses, yet the extraordinary 

 low i^rices at which these cheap bulk 



lines have to be sold renders the 

 j)rofits from quite immense establish- 

 ments almost incredibly small. 



In some cases, where chrysanthemums 

 arc the principal autumn crop, the 

 houses are taken down and the lights and 

 piping stored away under cover. The 

 chrysanthemums are planted out from 

 ;j-inch or 4-inch pots in the frame of the 

 dismantled houses and are not moved. 

 As soon as bad weather sets in, about 

 October, the lights are put on and the 

 houses put into working order. The 

 plants are by this means all safely cov- 

 ered without moving and without more 

 trouble and expense, after which they 

 are ready for the bulb forcing and 

 spring bedding trade. J. B. 



TO STAND POOR TREATMENT. 



A southern subscriber would like to get 

 the name of two carnations, one white 

 and one red, which will grow under un- 

 favorable conditions. For instance, 

 solid beds, not very particular about 

 the degree of temperature, and still 

 give some bloom. F. J. U. 



If the solid bed and irregular tem- 

 perature are all that will be against 

 them, there are a number of varieties 

 that vpill give a fair return in blooms, 

 according to how good the treatment 

 may be. You will want varieties that 

 are strictly non-bursters. Crane for red 

 will likely prove most satisfactory. 

 Lady Bountiful, The Queen, Moonlight 

 and Vesper are all strictly non-bursting 

 whites. Which one would prove most 

 satisfactory in the south I cannot say. 

 Try some of each. A. F. J. Baur. 



RED SPIDER. 



This is our first year in growing car- 

 nations for the Philadelphia market. 

 Our house is badly infested with red 

 spider. "We have tried all sorts of 

 things, but none of them seems to do 

 much good. We have a tree sprayer of 

 good force with which we spray down on 

 the beds about every other day. Having 

 seen little about this in the Review, we 

 thought there was 8ome secret among 

 growers. How about mixing salt or 

 coal oil in the water when spraying? 



D. & S. 



The best thing to use against spider 

 is a strong, cutting spray of clear water, 

 of suflacient force to wash the spiders 

 from the plants. It has been found that 

 to apply anything in the way of insecti- 

 cides strong enough to kill red spider 

 will in most cases injure the plants. 

 We once thought that spraying with salt 

 water was a help, but we are told by a 

 large importer that if a plant starts 

 across the ocean with a sign of red 

 spider, it will invariably be covered with 

 them on arrival on this side. So it 

 seems sea voyages agree with them as 

 well as with the human species. At 

 least it has shaken our faith in the salt 

 spray. 



You will find this pest pretty hard to 



get rid of, now that hot weather has 

 come. The time to fight them is early, 

 before they get much of a start. In 

 fact, all winter you should keep an eye 

 out for signs of spider. If your water 

 supply has a good pressure, spray them 

 from the side with all the force at your 

 command every bright day, and if pos- 

 sible spray from both sides of the bench. 

 There is no secret way of keeping down 

 red spider, except the secret of success, 

 and that is eternal vigilance and perse- 

 verance. A. F. J. Baur. 



A GOOD SPIRAEA. 



Spirsea Queen Wilhelmina, recently 

 introduced by Kuyk Bros., is certainly 

 one of the best of the astilboides flori- 

 bunda type; the plants have made won- 

 derful foliage, and long spikes of bloom, 

 which are of a clear white. On one 

 plant I counted thirty-five good spikes 

 of bloom, but these were not quite so 

 large as some which had fewer spikes. 



The plants have been grown under cool 

 treatment, but have the appearance of 

 being likely to force well. I am still 

 of the opinion that the variety Lord 

 Salisbury, as I grew it three or four 

 years ago, is one of the best types of the 

 numerous hybrid seedlings, but I have 

 not yet seen this in the market. I find, 

 however, that some growers have the 

 Queen Wilhelmina, and it compares well 

 with others seen. From several growers 

 we see some variations; it may to some 

 extent be attributable to culture. Mar- 

 ket growers are not fond of giving 

 names, or where they obtain stock from. 

 I should imagine that most of the best 

 samples we see are sold simply as astil- 

 boides floribunda, which is the name 

 given to the first hybrid; yet there is a 

 great variation, as seen from different 

 growers. — 



The old favorite, Japonica, is still 

 grown extensively, but many that I have 

 seen seem to suggest that it is getting 

 weaker in growth than it was years ago ; 

 probably this may be owing to its not 

 getting a fair share of attention in cul- 

 ture since we have had the newer sorts. 

 Compacta multiflora finds favor still, for 

 where neat dwarf plants are wanted 

 there is nothing better. 



With spiraeas, as with many other eas- 

 ily grown plants, it is only the special 

 sorts that get much attention in culture; 

 and I must say that if the older varie- 

 ties received the same careful attention 

 as the newer sorts do, we should often 

 fail to find so much difference between 

 them. — Horticultural Advertiser. 



STOCK BEAUTY OF NICE. 



This fine stock appears to be adaptable 

 both for winter flowering or treated as 

 a ten-week for the open border. The 

 plants are fairly tall when grown in 

 pots, and their spikes of salmon-pink 

 flowers render them useful where soft 

 shades are in request. It may be called 

 a giant variety, and it does not appear 

 to be sufficiently known. The percentage 

 of double flowers is large, but we have 

 had sufficient sijagle-flowered plants to 

 be able to save a nice bit of seed. — 

 Gardeners ' Magazine. 



SINGLE-STEM POT MUMS. 



Please give me a selection of five 

 chrysanthemums, one each of white, 

 pink, yellow, maroon and lavender. I 

 want medium to large flowers to come 

 in at the same time in November, for 

 exhibition. How should they be handled 

 in pots? L. M. 



I presume the idea is to grow the 

 plants to single stems in 6-inch pots. 

 This is what is generally called for in 

 pot competition, excepting the large 

 specimens and standards, and these are 

 quite another thing. 



June 1 is the time that some of our 

 best exhibitors put in their cuttings for 

 6-inch stock and these, as soon as they 

 are rooted, are potted on into 2V^-inch 

 pots, thence to 4-inch and finally to the 



final potting of a 6-inch pot. By strik- 

 ing late, in this manner, it will happen 

 in not a few cases that the plants will 

 not produce a bud before the middle of 

 August. This bud is retained and the 

 result is a splendid little plant, not two 

 feet high, and carrying a flower of al- 

 most exhibition size and finish. Such a 

 plant, I have always contended, will sell 

 on sight if one has any retail trade or 

 is within easy distance of a city, aside 

 from its exhibition value. 



Never permit the plants to become 

 dry in any stage of the growth, or the 

 foliage at the base of the stem will die 

 off. The ideal plant has foliage clear 

 down to the pot. 



The best place to grow these plants 

 in the summer is on a front bench with 

 the side ventilator open night and day. 



