Decbmbeb 13, 1006. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



25 J 



House ot Aristocrat Carnation at Joliet, III. 



(Photographed December 1, 191)6 ) 



root. So you will find, to begin with, 

 that it is necessary to keep the sun off 

 them, at least until they begin to root. 

 What I mean by the sun is the warm 

 rays that will cause wilting. When the 

 sun first comes up in the morning and 

 before it sets in the evening, while it 

 sheds considerable light, yet it is not 

 warm enough to cause any wilting and a 

 few minutes of such light will do no 

 harm. But be watchful at such times 

 and do not let them have too much of it. 

 Until you become somewhat familiar 

 with the work you will do well to let 

 down the curtain at first sight of the 

 sun and raise it in the evening when the 

 sun's rays cease to strike the cuttings. 

 At this time of the year that will be an 

 hour or so before dusk and will give the 

 moisture a chance to evaporate before 

 dark. 



Avoid Draughts. 



A more frequent cause of wilting, be- 

 cause it comes often, even when you 

 have prepared against the sun, is from 

 draughts of air passing over the cuttings. 

 On a bright day you may have to open 

 the ventilators to keep the temperature 

 down and the wind may be blowing con- 

 siderably. Not only will a gust of wind 

 enter at the ventilators occasionally, but 

 evaporation is rapid and you will find it 

 diflicult to keep the atmosphere in the 

 house charged with moisture properly. 

 Such a day is worse on a batch of car- 

 nation cuttings than any other that I 

 know of. Wetting down the walks and 

 under the benches helps somewhat, but 

 only temporarily and partially. 



One is tempted to spray the cuttings 

 frequently, and it is necessary to a de- 

 gree, and there is where the trouble be- 

 gins. If you will spray just enough to 

 sustain the cuttings during the ordeal 

 and so they will dry off by night, all is 

 well, but in your anxicty you will likely 

 spray too late in the day and the cut- 

 tings will stand with moisture on them 

 over night. If this occurs only at long 

 intervals it may not result seriously if 

 conditions are returned to normal the 

 following day, but if it occurs repeat- 

 edly trouble will surely follow. 



Rust. 



Varieties that are inclined to rust will 

 develop a ease of that disease. Others 



will develop the common leaf-spot or 

 fairy-ring or the common cutting bench 

 fungus. Any of these will soon ruin a 

 batch of cuttings and all are caused by 

 too much moisture on the foliage. On 

 such days as this, instead of spraying the 

 cuttings I would suggest that you lay 

 newspapers over them besides lowering 

 the curtains. The curtains will keep off 

 the draughts and the papers will arrest 

 evaporation and if the sand is fairly 

 moist there will be suflBcient moisture 

 under the paper to sustain the cuttings 

 in fine condition. Kemove the papers 

 as soon as it is considered safe ; too much 

 dense shade is not good for the cuttings 

 either. 



Avoid Too Much Spraying. 



We often hear it said that you should 

 spray the- cuttings every day or water 

 them every day. Either is poor advice 

 and should not be taken seriously. Such 

 advice does not apply any more to cut- 

 tings in the propagating bench than it 

 does to plants growing on the bench. 

 You will often find several days in suc- 

 cession when the weather is dark and 

 gloomy and the atmosphere is laden with 

 moisture. You will find it necessary to 

 run steam around and to keep the ven- 

 tilators open to dry off the excessive 

 moisture in the house. To spray cut- 

 tings on such a day would be utter folly. 



Watering should be done when it is 

 needed to keep the sand in a uniform 

 moist condition, but it should never be 

 watered enough to keep it in a soggy 

 condition. Much will depend on the 

 weather and the amount of firing re- 

 quired; also the grain of the sand. You 

 may have to water every day or two 

 sometimes, but at other times you may 

 not need to water more than once in a 

 week. Examine the sand in the morning 

 and consider what kind of a day is to 

 follow and make allowance for it. In 

 the evening after a warm day the sand 

 is likely to look dry on the surface, 

 which may deceive you. 



Keep Close Watch. 



Look over the cuttings carefully every 

 day and if you notice any that are badly 

 wilted or begin to decay pick them out 

 and destroy them. You will frequently 

 see such a one here and there without 

 apparent reason. If left to decay it may 



start cutting bench fungus and cause 

 you all kinds of trouble. If this fungus 

 does put in its appearance you will do 

 well to pull out all the cuttings in its 

 immediate vicinity. Take out the sand 

 and sprinkle around the edges with lime 

 and sulphur. However, if you start with 

 good sand and keep up proper conditions 

 it will not appear. 



Spraying with formalin will help, too,, 

 but I do not advise spraying nor dust- 

 ing with any of the remedies you use 

 on the growing stock when it can be 

 helped and never with as strong doses. 

 Cuttings are not able to stand as strong 

 doses as growing plants. A pinch of 

 sulphur dropped here and there on the 

 steam pipe under the propagating bench 

 will help to keep the atmosphere pure, 

 but do not overdo it, as it has a drying 

 effect which under certain conditions 

 would work harm. 



You will find that during December, 

 January and February, the weather is 

 usually such that you can control condi- 

 tions in the house fairly well without ex- 

 posing the cuttings to high winds and 

 drying elements, and propagating is 

 much easier and safer than it is later in 

 the spring. So for this reason, if for 

 no other, you should get your cuttings 

 into the sand during this time. 



A. F. J. Baur. 



SCALE OF POINTS. 



The recently organized Winter Flower- 

 ing Carnation Society in England has 

 adopted the following interesting scale 

 of points for judging new varieties: 



Color n Calyx B 



size 5 General appearance. . 6 



Fragrance 5 Stem 5 



Substance 5 Habit of plant B 



A variety must gain at least thirty 

 points to entitle it to a first-class certifi- 

 cate, and twenty-five points to entitle it 

 to an award of merit. 



THE GLASS MARKET. 



The market for window glass is quiet 

 in December. Production is going stead- 

 ily forward, but no large stocks are yet 

 on hand, as manufacturers cut as little 

 of the so-called small sizes as they can. 

 Sharp, Partridge & Co. and the Pitts- 

 burgh Plate Glass Co., in Chicago, who 

 are the principal sources of supply for 

 greenhouse glass, state that they antici- 

 pate an exceptionally heavy business next 

 spring, early inquiries being more numer- 

 ous than usual and calling for large lots. 

 They expect a large supply to be on 

 hand by the time actual delivery begins. 

 They say the principal call is now for 

 16x20, and that buyers of this size should 

 place orders early to be sure of getting 

 what they want. Other sizes are more 

 easily supplied because the demand does 

 not run so largely to them. 



In the matter of price, it appears that 

 the strong demand, among other factors, 

 will tend to hold the market steady. The 

 American Window Glass Co. is perfecting 

 its glass-blowing machine and this may 

 have a tendency to lower prices, for, with 

 the aid of the tariff, the blowers' wages 

 are the principal factor in holding prices 

 of window glass at the level they have 

 attained in the last few years. 



LOGANSPORT, Ind. — C. Kiesling & Sons 

 have recently completed a new green- 

 house. 



Dallas, Tex. — Col. E. H. E. Green has 

 been at Chicago buying material for an 

 addition of 85,000 feet . to his present 

 range. 



