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8 



The Weekly Rorists^ Review^ 



NOVBMBEE 22, 1906. 



A. Macrae, Providence, K. I., scored 

 eighty-nine points commercial and eighty- 

 six points exhibition scale. 



New York, November 17. — Golden 

 Dome, sport of Yellow Eaton, a decided 

 improvement on parent, both in color and 

 form, exhibited by John A. Macrae, 



Providence, R. I., scored eighty-nine 

 points commercial scale. 



Cincinnati, November 17. — No. 34-3-05, 

 daybreak pink, Japanese incurved, ex- 

 hibited by Nathan Smith & Son, Adrian, 

 Mich., scored eighty-three points com- 

 mercial scale. David Fraser, Sec'y. 



CARNATION NOTES —VEST. 



Propagating. 



To the experienced grower the propa- 

 gating season does not mean any more 

 than any other part of the growing sea- 

 son in so far as close attention and alert- 

 ness are concerned. True, he has to be 

 ready all the time to look after the 

 wants of the cuttings, by spraying, 

 shading, etc., but he has to be on hand 

 just as steadily if he wants to grow high 

 grade stock. It is to the beginner the 

 propagating season means great worry 

 and work. The experienced grower is 

 always able to size up the situation at a 

 glance and act accordingly, but not so 

 with the beginner. He cannot act with 

 the same precision, and because such 

 irreparable damage can be done in such 

 a short time his inexperience gives him 

 no end of worry. 



In no other department can success or 

 failure hang in the balance as it does 

 during this time unless it be during 

 transplanting in the fall. An hour of 

 hot sunshine, or a drying draught, or 

 water standing on the foliage over night 

 may ruin a batch of cuttings beyond re- 

 pair, and any one of them is likely to 

 happen to the inexperienced who has not 

 the foresight to guard against them. 



The propagating season is rapidly ap- 

 proaching, and judging from numerous 

 inquiries there are many beginners who 

 are reading the Review for their daily 

 guidance, so I will in t;Jie next few num- 

 bers confine my notes to this subject and 

 try to cover it as fully as possible. 



As I said in a recent issue, it is yet a 

 little early to begin propagating your 

 general stock of carnations. As most 

 beginners are likely to propagate only 

 for their own use, I would say wait an- 

 other month before putting any cuttings 

 in the sand. You can then get an abun- 

 dance of cuttings and can put enough in 

 sand in one batch to give you all you 

 will need. Many of the rooted cutting 

 specialists begin by the middle of No- 

 vember, but we do not consider these ex- 

 tremely early cuttings as desirable, gen- 

 erally speaking, as those taken out of 

 the sand during February and March. 

 Not that they will not make splendid 

 plants, but they are likely to become a 

 burden to the grower before spring. 



One rule that must be strictly adhered 

 to is to keep the young plants growing 

 after they are once potted up, and repot- 

 ting must be done whenever tbe plants 

 need it. Few growers feel able \p spare 

 more room than a 3-inch pot _r/quires, 

 and in case of strong-growing varieties 

 these early cuttings are likely to become 

 crowded, drawn and stunted unless shift- 

 ed into a larger size. But a cutting 



taken late in December of any variety 

 I know can be grown in a 3-ineh pot 

 until May without becoming stunted. 



You need not be idle jn the meantime, 

 however. You should get things in shape 

 so that when you begin putting in cut- 

 tings you can stay at it and get them 

 into the sand without delay. Get your 

 sand on the place and protect it from 

 severe freezing, so that ic caii be handled 

 at any time. Either river or pit sand 

 will do, just so it is clean. I have used 

 sand of every degree of coarseness, from 

 small pebbles to lake sand almost like 

 dust and have found that good success 

 can be had with all of them if handled 

 accordingly. Coarse sand must be 

 watered more frequently than the finer 

 grades, while in the finer grades the 

 danger of fungus is greater. The easiest 

 to handle is a clean, sharp sand of me- 

 dium grade. It will pack readily and, 

 while it will hold moisture fairly well, 

 it will not easily become soggy. Keep 

 all loam and trash of any kind excluded 

 from it. 



Perhaps you have a propagating house, 

 built for that purpose. If so you will 

 not need to make any preparations along 

 that line, but if you have not you need 

 not be worried. Any bench that can be 

 easily shaded, and which' is so situated 

 that you can keep strong draughts from 

 striking it, will answer the purpose. For 

 instance, if you have an even-span house 

 and a narrow bench against the north 

 wall it will make a first-class propagat- 

 ing bench. 



Get some muslin wide enough to reach 

 from the rafters below the edge of the 

 bench and tack it to each rafter. When 

 the sun is shining you merely let down 

 this curtain to keep it oflf the cuttings, 

 and at the same time they will have the 

 full daylight. In the evening you tie it 

 up and leave it up on cloudy days. This 

 curtain also will be a great help in keep- 

 ing oflf draughts. 



Good, sound boards will do for sides 

 and bottom and should be whitewashed 

 each time the sand is changed, to pre- 

 vent fungus, etc. The boards should not 

 be too tight, but tight enough to hold 

 damp sand from sifting through. Spe- 

 cial propagating benches are built with 

 brick bottoms, and those who use them 

 speak very highly of them. Instead of 

 using boards for the bottom use 2x4 and 

 place far enough apart so that a brick 

 laid flat and crossways of the bench will 

 reach from the middle of one 2x4 to the 

 middle of the next. Then cover the 

 whole bottom with bricks, laying them 

 flat and edge against edge. For the legs 

 and crosspieces you can use whatever 

 material you deem best, but of course it 

 pays to use iron or cedar as much as 

 possible. One always wishes he had 

 when it becomes necessary to renew the 



benches. Always bear in mind that 

 cleanliness is essential in propagating. 



A. r. J. Baur. 



SYRINGED ON WET DAY. 



We syringed our carnations freely and 

 it turned out to be a nasty day. We 

 fired up heavily, but allowed the entrance 

 of some fresh air all night, keeping the 

 temperature at about 56 degrees. Would 

 it have been better to run the tempera- 

 ture up to 65 or 70 degrees to dry out 

 the air? A. R. & S. 



You did the proper thing in handling 

 your carnation house, and no harm should 

 result from the experience they went 

 through. You might have dropped a 

 pinch of sulphur here and there on on© 

 of the pipes to help dry up the atmo- 

 sphere and check any disease, such as 

 leaf-spot, from starting. To have shut 

 up the house tight and run the tem- 

 perature way up would have been a mis- 

 take. Unless you ran it up to near 80 

 degrees it would not have dried up the 

 moisture any -quicker, and that would 

 have been entirely too hot for the plants 

 and much more favorable to leaf-spot, 

 which revels in a humid atmosphere. 

 Sixty-five to 70 degrees is all right as a 

 day temperature for Queen Louise and 

 Mrs. Lawson, with two inches or more 

 of air on. This would be entirely too 

 warm at night; 55 degrees at night is 

 warm enough to stop any trouble that 

 may result from low temperature, such 

 as bursting the calyx, etc. Maintaining 

 an even temperature will really do more 

 along that line than a high temperature 

 will. Avoid extremes and fluctuations in 

 temperature. A. F. J. B. 



BACTERIOSIS. 



My carnations are healthy, with the 

 exception of some leaves which are cov- 

 ered with light-colored streaks and 

 blotches. Some plants are full, espe- 

 cially on the younger and softer shoots. 

 It started with the Lawson family, but 

 is now seen on the Enchantress. Have 

 not observed it on the other varieties. 

 The plants were housed August 15 and 

 have grown nicely and have borne nice 

 blooms. The soil is not rich, but we are 

 now putting on a mulch of rotten cow 

 and horse manure mixed. The soil is a 

 light, sandy loam, was piled up last fall 

 with about one-sixth manure. The plants 

 are well-rooted through the entire soil, 

 yhich is on wooden benches and about 

 four and one-half ihches deep. 



E. A. M. 



What is the cause of the white spots 

 shown on the carnation foliage enclosed! 

 I housed my plants in good shape Sep- 

 tember 1. The compost is a medium 

 dark clay soil, with both cow and horse 

 manure added. They have been well ven- 

 tilated and well cared for and have 

 grown nicely. T. E. M. 



The trouble in each case is what waa 

 formerly termed bacteriosis, but which 

 has later been changed to stigmonose. 

 Prof. Woods in a paper read before the 

 American Carnation Society some years 

 ago declared that this trouble is caused 

 invariably by the punctures of insects, 

 such as greenfly, thrips, etc., and that 

 if you will keep your plants entirely 

 free from these pests you will have no 

 trouble along that line. That such spots 

 are produced by these pests I do not 

 doubt for an instant, but that they are 



