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Ski'TEMBer 13, tflOfl. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



J 047 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Sprayio^. 



As the days grow cooler, less spray- 

 ing of the plants is necessary, and one 

 good syringing on bright days is suf- 

 ficient, because the plants are now in 

 heavy growth and the foliage remains 

 wet for a long while after spraying. 



Conditions are very different to what 

 they were a month ago, when plants 

 would dry in a few minutes after they 

 had been sprayed. Now we have cooler 

 weather and less evaporation. If there 

 is any shade on the house it should be 

 removed, for this is the month when 

 every effort should be made to ripen up 

 the wood. To accomplish this the plants 

 should have -all the sunlight possible. 



Ripening the 'Wood, 



After the bud is taken and the stem 

 is thickening, the latter should begin 

 to * ' bark up " at the base, and get away 

 from the green, soft appearance that 

 characterizes the plants during their 

 Bummer growth. 



It is all very well to have the foliage 

 hanging over the bench. It makes a 

 fine-looking house of plants, but if you . 

 are losing leaves at the bottom of your 

 plant by the natural ripening of the 

 wood, you have no cause for worry, and 

 you will beat the other fellow out in the 

 quality of the flowers. If your plants 

 are very soft and gross, less water both 

 at the root and in the atmosphere is 

 the quickest way to" harden them up. 

 Immense foliage does not necessarily 

 mean immense flowers, as an excess of 

 nitrogen in the feeding will produce the 

 foliage, while the flower would come poor 

 colored, very soft and lacking much in 

 depth and finish. Evenly balanced fer- 

 tilizers and an everyday study of the 

 condition of the plants enable the expert 

 grower to produce both immense flowers 

 and foliage, but this can only be ob- 

 tained by getting the wood into the right 

 condition of ripeness. 



Charles H. Totty. 



WHITE ANTS. 



We are troubled with white ants in our 

 chrysanthemum beds. They gather 

 around the roots of a plant, some- 

 times eating the bark and sometimes bor- 

 ing up the center of the stem, either 

 way destroying the plant. Can you or 

 any of your readers give a way to ex- 

 terminate them without injuring the 

 plants? Any information on the sub- 

 ject will be greatly appreciated. G. C. 



Ants have not been any bother to me 

 personally, so I fear I cannot help yoji 

 very. much, but I well recall that wlien I 

 was a boy starting in to learn the gar- 

 dening business, and incidentally picking 

 up many other experiences which neither 

 "touched on nor appertained to" the 

 profession, we were taught to consider 

 the best things to clean out ants in a 



greenhouse were toads, and these were 

 captured and place<l in the greenhouse 

 whenever we found them around. That 

 toads will eat ants is well known, and if 

 you could find a few and put them in the 

 greenhouse your troubles would possibly 

 cease. 



Failing the toads, 1 have read some- 

 where of a way of poisoning ants by 

 mixing arsenic and sugar, and dropping 

 it along the runs of the ants, also of 

 mixing calomel and sugar and using it 

 the same way. A dusting of air-slaked 

 lime has taken care of any ants that I 

 have run across. C. H. Totty. 



NEV ASPARAGUSES. 



In n recent issue a subscriber makes 

 tile following inquiry: What is the na- 

 ture of Aiisaragus myriocladus, also can 

 it be propagated by means of cuttings? 

 If so, when and how should it be done? 



Asparagus myriocladus is a native of 

 South Africa and is very much like 

 Asparagus Sprengeri in habit but more 



erect in growth, with a finer leaf and 

 far more attractive as an ornamental 

 plant. 



It makes an excellent plant for pots, 

 as it forms fronds from two to four feet 

 long which, when just unfolding, are of 

 a peculiar bronze color, from which they 

 change to a golden grce.i and when ma- 

 ture to a rich emerald green. This spe- 

 cies can be propagated either by seeds, 

 division, layerage or from cuttings. For 

 cuttings take medium strong, healthy 

 shoots and make a cut just beneath the 

 joint of each leaf; cover these split 

 places on the stem beneath the sand in 

 the fashion that you layer a branch. 

 The most convenient plan is to place 

 them in pans over which a large pane 

 of glass should be placed to maintain a 

 moist, warm temperature. Under these 

 conditions it will root readily. Aspara- 

 gus tenuissimus is also easily propagat- 

 ed in this way. Asparagus plumosus 

 and Asparagus Sprengeri are mostly 

 grown from seed. 



In this connection it may be of inter- 

 est to call attention to some of the other 

 newer varieties of asparagus which are 

 valuable: Asparagus plumosus Blampi- 

 edi (Market Queen), Asparagus Sieberi- 

 anus, which is excellent for cutting; 

 Asparagus comorensis, which is very fine 

 for design work; Asparagus crispus, and 

 Asparagus Duchieni, which bears very 

 large foliage of a deep green color. All 

 of these are of a climbing habit of 

 growth and are useful greenhouse plants. 

 Julius Erdmann. 



Cyclamen. ' 

 It is now time to sow cyclamen for 

 early and large plants for the winter 

 of 1907. I have recently received a 

 startling revelation on growing cycla- 

 men, and I must preface these hints on 

 the subject by telling you that I had 

 last Aveek a call from Mr. Robinson, of 

 Montreal. I made this gentleman 's ac- 

 quaintance some seven years ago. From 

 the order and success of the beautiful 

 garden under his charge and the most 

 sensible paper he read before the meet- 

 ing of the CauMdian Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, I classed him as one of the most 

 up-to-date and thorough gardeners on 

 the continent, regardless of latitude or 

 longitude. It was this bright Mr. Rob- 

 inson who imparted to me the method he 

 follows in producing grand cyclamen. 

 It is radical in comparison to our old 

 methods. With some more definite in- 

 formation and Mr. Robinson's permis- 

 sion I hope in a future issue to give 

 you the complete modus operandi. But 

 I can give now the important item of 

 how to begin. 



Instead of sowing the seeds broad- 

 cast but thinly in a flat or pan, place the 

 seeds one inch apart. The reason and 

 wisdom of this will be noticed later. Of 

 course, no one will think that the inch 

 nnist be exact. An eighth of an inch 

 either way will make no difference, but 

 let it be more rather than less. The 

 flats should be three inches deep, filled 

 with a decomposed turfy loam, to which 



should be added a fourth of thoroughly 

 rotten cow manure or sifted leaf-mold. 

 A slight covering of pure sand on the 

 surface is advisable, as the seeds ger- 

 minate better in the sand than in the 

 soil. 



The above is all I intend to give you 

 at present. I have every confidence in 

 the method. Some conservative men 

 will say, ' * I grow good cyclamen with 

 successive shiftings. " To them I will 

 say try a hundred or two on Mr. Rob- 

 inson 's plan. Sow the seeds at once 

 one inch apart in flats. It will be three 

 months before you have to transplant 

 them. 



Hardy Perennials. 



This and the few following weeks is 

 the best time to transplant and divide 

 most all the well-known hardy peren- 

 nials, or make plantings of the young 

 plants sown in spring. The summer 

 growth is ripe, the roots are inactive 

 and a transplanting is little felt. Espe- 

 cially is this true with the popular 

 peony. Peonies will do well for a num- 

 ber of years in one spot if kept free 

 from weeds and grass, but transplanting 

 is often a necessity just for the sake 

 of a thorough cleaning. You will see 

 a peony doing well and profusely flow- 

 ering, surrounded with sod. Possibly 

 the short cut sod has taken little from 

 the soil. 



Peonies. 



I am not ashamed to own that we 



