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October 18, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



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CARNATION NOTES- WEST. 



Early Fire Heat. 



This is the time of year when many 

 growers are constantly in a puzzle 

 whether to start up the fires or to worry 

 along without any fire beat until it is 

 really needed every night. Those who 

 grow roses and other plants that need 

 fire heat right along now have a night 

 man on duty, and he can keep an eye 

 on the carnation houses as well. But 

 to those who grow carnations and cool 

 temperature stock, it means putting on 

 a night man, besides consumption of 

 fuel, etc. In the latter case, one is 

 often tempted to put off firing as long 

 as possible, even though the temperature 

 may drop quite low occasionally toward 

 morning. Carnations will not show dam- 

 age from a low temperature as quickly 

 as most plants, which is perhaps the 

 main reason why such risks are so often 

 taken. 



That it is folly to be without a night 

 man as late in the fall as this, cannot be 

 denied. We had an example a few nights 

 ago, when the temperature suddenly 

 dropped to 23 degrees. Any carnation 

 house that was without fire heat on that 

 night surely was too cold to be good for 

 the plants. The check caused by such a 

 severe drop in temperature would take 

 several days to overcome. 



If the grower would consider how 

 much headway his plants ought to make 

 in a given time, and try to keep them 

 up to it, he would consider as damage 

 any lack of headway caused by low tem- 

 perature. That is really the proper view 

 to take of the matter. It is not a ques- 

 tion of setting your plants back, but of 

 holding them back. [We do not consider 

 that an occasional drop to 45 degrees in 

 the morning will do any harm to the 

 plants, but we do not care to have it 

 happen many days in succession. Lower 

 than that the temperature should never 

 go, lest it have a retarding effect. 



Ventilation. 



One great mistake which inexperienced 

 growers often make is to close the ven- 

 tilators tight in the evening after a 

 bright day, thinking to corral a lot of 

 heat in the house, to keep it warm over 

 night. Not only will this always fail to 

 accomplish the desired result, but there 

 is no surer way of starting leaf-spot, 

 rust, or any of the many diseases that 

 are so much complained of these days. 

 I have preached abundant ventilation 

 continually for years, and I still find 

 that plenty of fresh air is the best pre- 

 ventive of disease. It makes no differ- 

 ence whether the temperature is abnor- 

 mally high or low, fresh air will aid the 

 plants to bear the unnatural conditions. 

 In a moderate temperature the fresh 

 air will help to build up the plant. Per- 

 haps you have noticed how dank the 

 atmosphere is in your house after it was 

 closed all night and the temperature is 

 quite low. It seems like a dark, damp 



cellar. No plant should be subjected to 

 such conditions. 



There should always be at least a 

 crack of air left on the house, except 

 when hard firing is required to keep the 

 temperature up to the mark, and even 

 then the ventilators should be raised an 

 inch or so for an hour each day to change 

 the air. I would much rather have a 

 house drop to 45 degrees with an inch 

 of ventilation, than to have it at 48 de- 

 grees and closed tight. It will also be 

 better for the plants if the temperature 

 is 48 degrees with a little fire-heat on, 

 and an inch of ventilation, than to be 

 at 50 degrees with no fire heat. The air 

 keeps moving better, and will remain 

 drier, which is more beneficial to the 

 plants at night. A. F. J. Baur. 



MOBE LEAF-SPOT. 



We enclose sample of carnation leaves, 

 which are affected with some disease. 

 Will you please tell us what is the best 

 thing to do for these plants. The trou- 

 ble is spreading rapidly in our house, 

 and will ruin our stock, if it keeps on. 

 J. L. O'Q. 



Your carnations are badly affected 

 with leaf-spot, the same as C. G. com- 

 plained of in last week's issue of the 

 Review, page 1332. You will find full 

 directions for combatting the disease, 

 thougn I might add that you would bet- 

 ter pick off all affected leaves, to get rid 

 of the spores as quickly as possible. In 



fact, this should be done always in case 

 of such diseases, right at the start. 

 When all the active fungus has been re- 

 moved, it is much easier to keep the in- 

 active spores in check and destroy them, 

 than when there are quantities of spore- 

 bearing fungi around. It's the surest 

 method of destruction. A. F. J. B. 



FUMIGATING CARNATIONS. 



I have some carnations in one of my 

 lettuce houses. Will it injure them in 

 any way to fumigate the house with to- 

 bacco smoke? Will it injure them to use 

 quite cold water? B. A. B. 



Many growers still cling to the old 

 method of fumigating their plants with 

 tobacco smoke to destroy aphis. There 

 are numerous objections to that method, 

 of which I have made mention many 

 times in my notes, but the plants them- 

 selves are not easily damaged by the 

 fumes. 



The grower who finds a steady de- 

 mand for his blooms finds it almost im- 

 possible to set a certain time each week 

 to fumigate and to live up to it. The 

 condition of the market, and the de- 

 mands made on his cut, often prevent 

 the regular fumigating, and before he 

 is aware of it, the aphides have multi- 

 plied by the million. The odor of the fumes 

 clings to the blooms for some time, and 

 it seems to impair their keeping quali- 

 ties. It also t^es color out of the col- 

 ored blooms, especially of those varie- 

 ties that bleach easily, like Mrs. Thos, 

 W. Lawson, Enchantress, etc. 



We use the nicotine extracts for spray- 

 ing. You can apply these and go right 

 ahead cutting the blooms. No damage 

 is done to the blooms and it is less 

 trouble to apply. 



Water that will not injure lettuce will 

 not injure carnations in the least. 



A. F. J. B. 



SEASONABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



Lateral shoots will now begin to be 

 plentiful and should be removed while 

 they are yet small and in a soft condi- 

 tion. If these are neglected and allowed 

 to remain until they are hard and woody, 

 they have by that time deprived the bud 

 of a great amount of sustenance, de- 

 stroyed the symmetry of the stem, leav- 

 ing it bare of good foliage, and, hav- 

 ing to be removed by the knife, leave 

 the stem with snags, which destroy all 

 its beauty. 



Care in cutting, so that the proper 

 eye is reserved for the new break, should 



be insisted on, as it is easy for a care- 

 less or incompetent hand to entirely de- 

 stroy the prospects of the next crop, 

 by careless cutting. Tying so that the 

 flower can be cut with its full comple- 

 ment of stem, without loosening all the 

 plant, should also be insisted upon. The 

 only way to obviate this is to have each 

 flower stem tied independently. See 

 also that the flower stems are properly 

 separated, to allow a free circulation of 

 air among the foliage. Keep the benches 

 and wall^ clear of weeds and decaying 

 leaves; and, as cleanliness is essential 

 to the life of a rose, keep the house tidy 

 and clean. 



Those roses which were planted early, 

 and which have been, giving a cut dur- 

 ing the last month or so, should receive 

 some feeding by this time. This is easily 

 applied in the form of liquid, which 

 should be rather weak for a first appli- 



