Sbptbmbeb 6, 1006. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



The Employees of Poehlmann Bros. Co., Chicago , and Their Faoiilies, on Their Annual Outing. 



profitable are: in light pink, Enchan- 

 tress and Fair Maid; in dark pink, Mrs. 

 Lawson; some growers are superseding 

 this with Nelson Fisher, but so far this 

 variety has not proved so profitable with 

 tne as Lawson; in scarlet, Estelle is still 

 the best with me. Eed Lawson is a good 

 one to grow, but cannot be called a 

 scarlet, and the color is objected to by 

 some. In crimson, Harlowarden is the 

 only one I have found worth growing; 

 in white, White Lawson, Queen and Bos- 

 ton Market have proved themselves the 

 best. Lady Bountiful is a nice white, 

 but I do not think it will give you as 

 ^ood returns as the others mentioned. 

 I might mention that Boston Market is 

 the best keeping carnation in commence, 

 and is also one of the best perfumed. 

 The yellow and variegated classes I do 

 oot grow, as I am convinced that for 

 them to be profitable you need to get a 

 fancy price; I notice that the large 

 powers are not growing so many of 

 the fancy varieties as they used to, but 

 are planting more largely of the varie- 

 ties I have mentioned. 



Methods of Growing. 



In regard to culture, I believe in pro- 

 pagating early, say in November, for at 

 this time you will have a finer lot of cut- 

 tings than at any other time during the 

 season. "When your cuttings are rooted, 

 put them in pots or flats, whichever you 

 find most convenient, and grow on in a 

 low temperature, that is, in a violet tem- 

 perature, and you will have fine, strong 

 plants when the time comes for planting 

 out in the field. It is needless for me 

 to tell you to keep your plants free from 

 weeds, and to keep them well cultivated. 

 August, I find, is the best month for 

 planting in the houses; I have done this 

 in July, but the plants seem to get 

 stunted with the heat. In August, the 

 nights are longer, and they recover much 

 more quickly. I notice one of the largest 

 growers in Chicago has given up plant- 

 ing in July. Do not open your ventila- 

 tors very wide for two or three days 

 after planting, but syringe every few 

 hours, and your plants will soon go 

 ahead; then give all the air possible, and 

 only syringe to keep down red spider. 

 Do not syringe just for the sake of see- 

 ing the water fly, for I am convinced 



the less you syringe your carnations dur- 

 ing the fall and winter months the less 

 disease you will have. 



One of the principal things in grow- 

 ing good carnations is to give plenty of 

 fresh air during the winter months; do 

 not nail your ventilators down, as I know 

 one florist did; that poor fellow is out' 

 of the business now. Try to open your 

 ventilators every day, even if only for 

 an hour at noon. During the season of 

 heavy firing, the plants are apt to get 

 soft and subject to disease, but fresh 

 air will keep them hardy and in good 

 health, and you will find your bloom will 

 keep jnuch longer than if grown in a 

 stuffy atmosphere. 



Carnation Troubles. 



Carnations, like other plants, are sub- 

 ject to various diseases, and one of the 

 most dreaded is stem-rot; the starting 

 point of this, I believe, is the propagat- 

 ing bed. I bought two batches of rooted 

 cuttings which any one could see had 

 been left in the sand too long, the bark 

 being quite soft, and as I expected, they 

 had a good dose of stem-rot. They died 

 off in the field, and also on thebenches, 

 after planting, but after giving them 

 three heavy applications of air-slaked 

 lime, the disease was entirely stopped. 

 If you are troubled with stem-rot, try 

 the lime cure, and I don't think you 

 will be disappointed. 



Now, a few words regarding the 

 bloom. Don't let the flower fully de- 

 velop before cutting; you may hav©^-to 

 sacrifice size, but the public will gef 

 more benefit from them. People are be- 

 ginning to tire of buying sleepy carna- 

 tions, and will buy other flowers instead, 

 unless we give them blooms that will last 

 at least three or four days. 



VIOLETS. 



A General Going Over. 



How do you find those violets looking 

 now on your return from the S. A. F.t 

 Are they all right, or have they needed 

 a little more care than they received dur- 

 ing your absence. Well, be it as it may, 

 it will be perfectly safe and a wise pro- 

 ceeding to go over all the plants care- 

 fully at once, noting all the conditioHS 



of soil, watering, cultivating, etc., reme- 

 dying all defects and keeping a sharp 

 eye out for any aphis or other pest, as 

 well as any signs of disease. Any of 

 these should have immediate attention, 

 as delay at this*^ time of the year is 

 worse than it is earlier in the season. 

 They should never be neglected if you 

 expect to attain the results that you wish 

 for, i. e., the best stock and top-notch" 

 prices. 



Keep close watch of the plants, and 

 do not let them spend their strength in 

 making runners now. Keep them cut off 

 closely, so that they devote al^ their en- 

 ergies to making big, strong crowns, 

 ready for a good winter's work. As we 

 get cooler nights from now on, they will 

 grow more rapidly than they have been 

 doing during the continued hot summer. 

 They will easily get the start of you in 

 many ways unless you are vigilant. 



Of course you looked over the heating 

 system, before planting the house, to see 

 that it was in perfect running order, but 

 it is a good idea to look it over again 

 now, that no little thing was overlooked. 

 When some cold night overtakes you, 

 you want to be able to fire lightly, so be 

 ready. 



Caution in Taking Advice. 



It is more than likely that you met 

 many friends and fellow florists at Day- 

 ton who advised you to do this thing 

 and that, and while all were -without 

 doubt sincere in their advice and thought 

 it the best thing you could possibly do, 

 still you should go slowly. There are 

 many reasons why their particular advice 

 may not apply to your houses, and it is 

 much safer to experiment in a limited 

 way, and only lose or injure a small 

 number of plants, than to risk all. If 

 the plan is all right you can proceed 

 with the balance of your stock, or if it 

 is then too late you can do so next sea- 

 son. 



I think I can safely say that any 

 grower who has been many years in the 

 business will confirm this advice and 

 can probably recall many instances when 

 he would have been glad if he had done 

 so. I think just now of one time when 

 we tried a small house — we wished it had 

 been even smaller — full of carnations, 

 fertilizing with Albert's Horticultural 



