254 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



December 13, 1906. 



delivery. No matter where you are asked 

 to deliver stock, you can find on the 

 Eeview's pages for "Leadiiig Ketail 

 Florists" some one located close to that 

 place and equipped to handle your or- 

 der satisfactorily. 



GERANIUMS FOR WINTER. 



After chrysanthemums are gone and 

 before Dutch bulbous stock, cyclamens, 

 primulas and other late winter or early 

 spring flowering plants are well in sea- 

 son, there is a decided lack of blooming 

 stock for conservatory, window or other 

 decorative purposes. Poinsettias are 



sis and without the use of any floral gum 

 to hold the petals together. "We think 

 any grower within convenient access, say 

 twenty to twenty-five miles of a market, 

 can deliver them to retailers in good 

 condition by rail. Of course, care in 

 handling is necessary, but we have found 

 them to carry that distance quite satis- 

 factorily. 



Plants for winter blooming should be 

 grown under glass all the time. Many 

 of the best singles resent open-air cul- 

 ture. Especially is this true of the Eng- 

 lish round flowered section. Successive 

 shifts from 2i/4-ineh to 4-inch, 6-inch, 

 and, if needed, 8-inch pots should be 



Winter-flowering Geranium Emile Zola. 



brilliant, but too often lanky and easily 

 become leafless. Lorraine begonias are, 

 of course, available, but there is too 

 much of a sameness year after year and 

 something out of the beaten track al- 

 ways is welcome. 



From the end of November until the 

 middle of February the zonal section of 

 geraniums, or to be more correct, pelar- 

 goniums, are without a superior for bril- 

 liancy, variety and persistency in flower- 

 ing, and the wonder is that so few 

 commercial growers and private garden- 

 ers give them even a fractional part of 

 the attention they merit. 



Geraniums for winter flowering need 

 special treatment, like any other plant. 

 Because they are a common, easily grown 

 and bloomed plant, one which will stand 

 with impunity an occasional drying up 

 at the root without dying, it is not to be 

 expected that slipshod cultural methods 

 will give gratifying returns. From cut- 

 tings rooted in the regulation manner in 

 February excellent plants in 6-inch or 

 even larger pots can be had the following 

 winter. Pots six inches in diameter are 

 a convenient size to handle and splendid 

 plants can be produced in them. 



The average commercial grower has 

 a special hankering after double or 

 semidouble varieties. These, however, 

 are not to be compared with the finer 

 single sorts, especially the French and 

 English round-flowered section. Not one 

 customer in ten would select doubles 

 from a mixed batch, the singles are so 

 much more beautiful and refined. The 

 usual interrogatory, "Will they ship 

 wellt" we would answer by stating that 

 they carry fully as well as Lorraine 

 begonias and better than Primula Sinen- 



given. For the final shift a compost of 

 two-thirds turfy loam and one-third old, 

 dried coav manure with a dash of Clay's 

 fertilizer and soot is suitable. Bam the 

 soil firm at the final shift and drain 

 efficiently. 



fertilizer once in two weeks when the 

 pots are well filled with roots, is very 

 helpful. Bonora we have found very 

 good, but it must be used sparingly; 

 otherwise it promotes too rank a growth. 

 A light house with a night temperature 

 of 50 to 52 degrees suits the plants to 

 a nicety while in flower and the atmos- 

 phere should be tolerably dry at all 

 times. If fumigation is done, use some- 

 thing other than tobacco stems. 



Some of the best single varieties we 

 have grown are the following: 



Crimsons and scarlets — Jacquerie, Paul 

 Crampel, The Sirdar, Badium, Eugene 

 Sue, Hall Caine and Telegraph. 



Whites — Albion, Snowdrop. 



Pinks — Gertrude Pearson, Anna Defeu- 

 illet, J. M. Barry (this is the largest- 

 flowered of the whole section, individual 

 flowers are two and one-half to three 

 inches across), Juste Oliver, Softness. 



Various other shades — Eichmond 

 Beauty, scarlet, white feathers on upper 

 petals; Emile Zola, a magnificent salmon 

 orange; Mousseline and Ian McLaren. 



As Christmas plants Eichmond Beauty, 

 Jacquerie, Paul Crampel, The Sirdar and 

 Hall Caine are among the best sorts to 

 grow, W. N. Craig. 



WILLIAMSPORT, PA. 



Evenden Bros, have recently added to 

 their already extensive plant, five ridge 

 and furrow houses of truss construction, 

 for growing carnations and tomatoes, the 

 three center houses being twenty feet 

 wide and the two outside, twenty-five 

 feet, each house 178 feet long. This is 

 one of a number of good-sized ranges 

 of the Lord & Burnham new truss con- 

 struction. The sashbars are l%x2^, in- 

 stead of l%x2% as in their standard 

 sashbar construction. The new V-shaped 

 gutter is employed, greatly reducing the 

 shade. It is equipped with a "U" 

 drip gutter. All screws and bolts are 

 countersunk, so there are no points for 

 condensation. The gutters are supported 

 by 2-inch pipes set in adjustable cast- 

 iron footpieces bedded in concrete two 

 feet six inches in the ground. Throu^ 



Winter-flowering Geranium J. M. Barry. 



Pinching the shoots to secure bushy 

 plants may be done until the end of 

 September. All flower trusses should be 

 removed until the middle of October. 

 Feeding with liquid manure and soot 

 water weekly, or a surfacing of Clay's 



every second pipe support the water is 

 led off from the gutters to tile drains. 

 The ventilation is continuous on one 

 side of each house. The main rod that 

 goes across the house is not carried 

 directly from eave to eave, but extends 



