ISO 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



December 6, 1906. 



cold water to the required consistency, 

 and remember that the^e is a difference 

 between flowers of sulphur and pulver- 

 ized sulphur. 



This same wash is recommended for 

 use on the ordinary wood-bottomed 

 bench, though it is obvious that the best 

 results would be gained by its use on 

 new lumber. The principal advantages 

 of the brick-bottomed bench are, its 

 perfect drainage and the uniform, mild 

 heat given off by the bricks, beneath 

 which are placed the heating pipes. 



I venture the opinion that those who 

 cling to the belief that carnation cut- 

 tings should be given no bottom heat 

 whatever, would be shaken in their faith 

 were they to make a comparative test of 

 results, using this style of bench. 



We sometimes hear the advice to 

 change the sand, or at least remove and 

 replace with fresh an inch of the surface 

 after rooting a batch of cuttings. In 

 the absence of full details regarding the 

 conditions and management of the dif- 

 ferent benches in use, this is certainly 

 safe advice, but I see no reason why the 

 same sand cannot be used during one 

 whole propagating season — a subject for 

 another lesson. Geo. S. Osborn. 



CARNATION- NOTES.- VEST. 



All About Cuttings. 



Selecting the cuttings is an important 

 part of the operation. Only first-class 

 cuttings should be put into sand. Any 

 other kind will only cause disappoint- 

 ment and loss later on. No cutting 

 should be taken from a plant that is not 

 healthy and no cutting should be taken 

 from a plant when in a wilted condition. 

 The best time to take off cuttings is in 

 the first half of the morning or on 



Keep them in a cool place from the time 

 they are taken from the plants until 

 they are in the sand and always keep 

 them moist. 



It is generally agreed that the best 

 cutting is the young break that is made 

 after a flower stem is cut. Most varie- 

 ties break around the lower part of the 

 flower stem before the bloom is cut and 

 many of these young shoots are large 

 enough to make splendid, strong cut- 

 tings, even before the bloom is out. A 

 few varieties, however. Lady Bountiful 

 for instance, will give you no cuttings 

 until the bloom is cut. 



Don't take the shoots from too high 

 up on the stem, they are no good. You 

 will notice that on the upper part of the 

 flower stem the young shoots will have 

 perhaps an inch of stem before any 

 leaves begin. Avoid all such, as they 

 will never make good, strong plants. 

 Young blooming shoots that have not 

 begun to run up make very good cut- 

 tings and we do not hesitate to use them 

 when we are desirous of increasing the 

 stock as much as possible. 



If you have a limited number of some 

 fine variety, of which you want to make 

 all you can, and if you are thoroughly 

 satisfied that it is what you think, then 

 it will pay you to top back all the bloom- 

 ing shoots in order to encourage the 

 young shoots to come sooner. Do not 

 cut down the whole plant at one time, but 

 allow the shoots to show the bud to a 

 certain stage and then top it back about 

 half way down the stem. In a few days 

 a few more will be ready to cut back, 

 and in this way you will not check the 

 plant so severely and the plant will 

 always have a fair amount of growth 

 coming on. The cuttings will mature 

 better, too. Do not feed such plants 

 very strongly, either. 



Store of Jacob Schuiz, Louisville^ Ky. 



cloudy days. Then the cuttings are 

 crisp and fresh and it is easier to keep 

 them so than when they are wilted to 

 start with. Lay some damp paper in 

 the bottom of your basket for the cut- 

 tings to lie on and sprinkle with cool 

 water as soon as you have filled the 

 basket and cover over with damp paper. 



Select your cuttings of about an even 

 size as far as possible. An even lot of 

 cuttings will make an even lot of plants. 

 It pays much better to put in two batches 

 of cuttings two weeks apart, and all of 

 an even size, than to put in one large 

 batch of cuttings, some good and some 

 too young and soft. A cutting does not 



need to be extra large to be strong, but 

 it should be of fair size and of such a 

 kind as will gather strength find grow 

 into a strong plant. 



We do not trim our cuttings as much 

 these days as we did years ago. Use a 

 sharp knife to make a clean cut at the 

 bottom and remove only such leaves as 

 will sever from the stem without leaving 

 any stub. Then trim back such leaves 

 as turn outward or downward so that all 

 the leaves that remain will point upward. 

 Take off about one-third of the leaves 

 that you trim, or less, as occasion may 

 demand. You will soon learn by a little 

 practice. Some varieties may not need 

 any trimming at all more than the clean 

 cut at the bottom. 



After having taken off a lot of cut- 

 tings get them into the sand as quickly 

 as possible. Lying around, even though 

 they may be kept moist, does them no 

 good. A. F. J. Baur. 



DIET OF THE CARNATION. 



This is a modern age and an age in 

 which inquiry is being made into the 

 reason of things. The day is rapidly 

 passing when one can sit passively by 

 and let things take their natural course 

 or unnatural course, as the case may be. 

 It is being proved, even to the most 

 skeptical florist, that to make equal suc- 

 cess with his competitors he must use 

 all the best and latest cultural methods 

 known. 



The man who is raising live stock will 

 first consider a place for the stock to be 

 kept in, and then the feed that they will 

 require to sustain life and growth. The 

 florist must and does consider the housing 

 of his carnations first. He should next 

 consider the feed he is going to give 

 these carnations to bring them to best 

 maturity. How many florists are there 

 who seriously consider the feeding of 

 their plants? Is it any wonder that 

 they are always saying that Smith or 

 Jones must have a soil much superior to 

 theirs? 



Now to come down to the bottom of 

 things, is it the superiority of Jones' 

 soil itself, or is it the plant food that 

 Jones adds to his soil, that counts? I 

 am of the opinion that the food is the 

 important factor in many cases, and will 

 tell you why. 



Plants must feed just as surely as man 

 himself. Man chooses his food, such as 

 steak, potatoes, pie, etc., and insists on 

 having a variety. The carnation insists 

 on a variety, too, such as nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid, potash, and does not grow 

 well if it fails to get it. The maA wants 

 the thing that he gets the least of — the 

 pie, for instance. The carnation seems 

 to run along the same perverse lines, 

 and what it craves, and seldom gets its 

 proper share of, is potash. 



jNow, how does it happen that the 

 carnation and many other plants go lack- 

 ing for this important food, potash? It 

 is not because the potash is more expen- 

 sive than the other foods, as bone meal, 

 because the fact is that potash costs no 

 more than phosphoric acid and only 

 about one-third as much as nitrogen. It 

 is because the carnation can't call out 

 through a megaphone, "Potash! Pot- 

 ash I ' ' but must sit down and sulk and 

 refuse to grow until it does get it. The 

 florist knows that the carnation doesn't 

 grow properly, but he is frequently in 

 the dark as to the why. 



The chemist now comes to the florist's 

 aid in this extremity. When he analyzes 

 the carnation he finds that a single plant 

 removes from the soil in one growing 



