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1192 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Sbptbhbeb 27, 1906. 



the better for it. A mulch such as you 

 suggest will do no harm, and if it had 

 been applied September 1, it might have 

 done much good in keeping the moisture 

 in the soil more even. Put it on about 

 half an inch thick. A. F. J. Baur. 



ADVERTISING METHODS. 



In looking over the advertisements of 

 carnation plants in the Review, I notice 

 a tendency on the part of many to ab- 

 breviate considerably more than should 

 be done. In fact, in some cases it is 

 done so much that it might even cause 

 confusion. It seems to me that in all 

 cases the full name of the variety should 

 be given; then you are sure what you 

 are buying, in case you wish to order 

 from the list given. 



For instance, we find simply Lawson, 

 when I suppose Mrs. Thomas W. Lawson 

 is meant. That brings to mind a con- 

 versation which we had one day recently 

 with a young grower who is not so well 

 posted on varieties as some of us. He 

 was asking about various varieties and 

 among others asked, ' ' How about Pink 

 Lawson f" Now, we knew that he had 

 been growing Mrs. Thomas W. Lawson 

 two years at least, and of course told 

 him so, whereupon he said he had seen 

 it advertised and thought it must be a 

 lighter sport. It is this class of readers 

 who are apt to become confused. Then 

 we find simply Roosevelt, with no clue 

 as to whether it means Governor Roose- 

 velt or Mrs. Theo. Roosevelt. In any 



instances that have come under my no- 

 tice, I know it is not a case of ignor- 

 ance of the proper full names, but sim- 

 ply an attempt to abbreviate. Some may 

 think it looks snappy in an ad, but t for 

 one cannot see it that way. True enough, 

 an ad that is brief and snappy and that 

 says a lot in a few words is worthy of 

 commendation, but it should not be 

 pruned and curtailed at the wrong places. 

 It should at least be explicit enough so 

 that no mistake can be made as to what 

 is meant. A. F. J. Baub. 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Dailledouze Bros., Flatbush, N. Y., 

 register Carnation Welcome, a pink sport 

 of Mrs. T. W. Lawson, the color of a 

 Bridesmaid rose; identical with its par- 

 ent excepting in color and calyx, which 

 seldom bursts; color and habit perma- 

 nently fixed; now in its fourth year. 



N. B. — This variety is registered pro- 

 visionally and subject to the approval of 

 the judges at the show in Toronto, Can- 

 ada, next January. 



Albert M. Herr, Sec'y. 



PROPAGATING CANNAS. 



Kindly let me know which would be 

 best to increase my stock of cannas over 

 winter, to plant the whole clump as dug 

 from the field in solid beds, or to divide 

 them and start them in flats. T. T. 



If you do not lift your cannas till the 



Aspidistra Elatior. 



number of instances the "Mrs." or 

 "The" are left off, all of which, as I 

 say, should be added when they belong 

 there. We find in one issue Mrs. E. A. 

 Nelson quoted as E. A. Nelson in one 

 place, and in another simply Nelson. 

 Still another might write it Mrs. Nelson, 

 which would be better than the other 

 two. But why not write it Mrs. E. A. 

 Nelson, as it should bef In all of these 



frost has injured the tops, then you 

 should cut down the stems to within a 

 foot of the ground, and if the clump of 

 roots is only of moderate size, remove to 

 a bench with a depth of six inches of 

 soil, and young growths will continue to 

 start, which can be removed with a small 

 piece of the old root attached. If they 

 are large clumps, it would be more con- 

 venient to divide them into three or four 



parts. The ordinary flat is not deep 

 enough. Boxes six inches deep vdll do. 

 In this northern climate we treat the 

 canna as if it were an herbaceous plant, 

 letting the roots become perfectly dry 

 from October to March. It is not herba- 

 ceous in its native clime. That is dem- 

 onstrated by the way it will, when grown 

 in pots, go on growing and flowering 

 throughout the winter in a warm green- 

 house. In case you divide the roots, 

 don't be too free with water. Wait till 

 you are sure they are making roots in 

 the new soil; then you can water freely. 



W. S. 



ASPIDISTRAS. 



Varieties. 



The lily family, or liliacse, as it is 

 termed by the botanists, is an extensive 

 one, there being more than 2,500 species 

 of plants included under that heading. 

 The majority of these plants are her- 

 baceous in habit, and in that particular 

 the subject of this article differs from 

 the common habit of the other members 

 of tne lily family, for the aspidistras 

 are evergreen, and usually hold their 

 foliage for several years. 



Among the hardiest of decorative foli- 

 age plants, the aspidistras are deservedly 

 popular, and few collections of plants 

 are without some representative from 

 this genus, either of the green-leaved 

 type, or one of the variegated forma. 

 The original aspidistra was the short- 

 leaved and green-foliaged species, A. 

 lurida, and was introduced from China 

 in 1822. This species seldom grows 

 more than eighteen inches high, while 

 the taller growing species, A. elatior, 

 and its variegated form, the latter being 

 the common variegated aspidistra of 

 commerce, were introduced from Japan 

 several years later, probably about 1835. 

 The illustration herewith is from a pho- 

 tograph of a specimen plant shown at 

 the Dayton convention by Frank Hunts- 

 man, of Cincinnati. 



A third species, A. punctata, is also 

 occasionally seen in plant collections, 

 this being also a Chinese introduction. 

 It is of less value than the others, being 

 comparatively short in growth, and hav- 

 ing its leaves spotted with an unhealthy 

 looking yellow variegation. 



Cultural Methods. 



The culture of aspidistras is quite an 

 easy proposition, any reasonably good 

 soil and an abundance of water being 

 the essentials in the case, while they are 

 by no means critical in the matters of 

 temperature and shade. If long leaves 

 and a rapid growth are desired, then 

 these plants may be plunged or planted 

 out in a hotbed and given a partial shad- 

 ing from the summer sun. If short and 

 tough foliage, and stocky plants of the 

 build that is useful for window boxes, 

 are the aim of the grower, then the 

 aspidistra should be given full sunshine, 

 a rather heavy soil, well enriched with 

 cow manure and a sprinkling of bone 

 dust, and should not be allowed to suffer 

 from lack of water throughout the grow- 

 ing season. 



During the winter but little growth is 

 made by these plants, and a night tem- 

 perature of 50 degrees is quite high 

 enough to keep them in good condition. 

 The plan of growth of the aspidistras 

 being by means of underground stems, 

 the common method of propagation is 

 by division. This operation is prefer- 

 ably performed in the spring, thus al- 



