Dbcembeb 20, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



343 



Single Chrysanthemum Crown of Gold. 



vious crop providing it is sweet and in 

 good shape. Planting anything into a 

 heavy, soggy, sour soil is worse than 

 useless. But if the mechanical condition 

 of the soil is right it may be enriched 

 by an inch or so of well rotted manure 

 and a sprinkle of bone meal, which 

 should be well worked through the top 

 five inches of the solid bed. Were I 

 figuring on such a proposition I would 

 use the new good soil for the mums, 

 and then, in the early winter, this soil 

 would grow good lettuce; for I have 

 seen this successfully done. At the same 

 time, the best growers do not consider 

 it time wasted to use new soil for every 

 crop. 



As to what one color is best to grow, 

 either white or yellow has the largest 

 sale, and I would suggest, perhaps, yel- 

 low, if W. K. only wants one color. A 

 good selection would be as follows: 

 Early, Monrovia, October Sunshine, Hal- 

 liday; late. Yellow Eaton, Nagoya, 

 Mrs. Geo. Beech, Yellow Chadwick. 



The amount of cuttings that can be 

 taken from a given number of stock 

 plants depends almost entirely on the 

 skill of the propagator and the condi- 

 tion of the stock plants. In a recent 

 issue I gave about twenty plants as be- 

 ing an average number to obtain from 

 a healthy stock plant. On that basis 

 W. K. will produce 2,000 plants from 

 his 100 stock plants. 



There are many styles of packing the 

 blooms, as W. K. will see if he ever 

 strolls through the wholesale market of 

 a big city during the mum rush. From 

 the shoebox to an 8-foot coffin, every 

 style of box in brought into requisition. 



The best way for any shipper is to go 

 to his agent and have a business talk 

 with him, and if that commission agent 

 knows his business (and most of them 

 do) he can set him right in short order 

 as to styles of packing for his trade. 



I know of no crop that W. K. could 

 put in for the late summer months that 

 would bring in the money that mums 

 would. Melons might be tried, perhaps, 

 if W. K. has a market that would take a 

 choice article in that line. 



Chas. H. Totty. 



WATERING. 



Is it feasible to water in the morning, 

 say 7 a. m., when the thermometer out- 

 side stands from 15 to 20 degrees above 

 zero, or is it best to wait until 9 or 9:30 

 a. m., especially on cloudy days, pro- 

 viding the greenhouse can be watered 

 before noon? This applies to general 

 greenhouse stock, bedding plants, carna- 

 tions, etc. E. B. 



This is a question quite out of the 

 common, but one that deals with the very 

 essence of greenhouse management. The 

 writer has had occasion to say before 

 that operations in aii greenhouse consisted 

 of two divisions of work, the mechan- 

 ical and the mental. If there is none 

 that is purely mental, then it is manual 

 with a large percentage of the mental. 

 Potting and shifting plants, tying, and 

 transplanting from the greenhouse to the 

 garden, these are the mechanical duties 

 of a greenhouse workman. The mental 

 are watering, syringing and ventilation. 

 It is not how to give ventilation, or how 



to water. It is when 4^ do these impor- 

 tant operations. To answer your ques- 

 tion, I will say, that, at 7 a. m. in mid- 

 winter it would be scarcely light enough 

 to see clearly what plants neeued water 

 and those that did not, especially in 

 dark, cloudy weather. There is no need 

 of beginning so early. 



-AS the season advances and the sun 

 rises earlier and shines stronger, then if 

 you see in the eastern horizon that Old 

 Sol is going to rise in all his glory and 

 it 's going to be a bright, sunny day, then 

 watering and syringing can be begun as 

 early as you like. 



You have not said that you alluded to 

 midwinter, but from climatic conditions 

 outside I infer your question was for 

 that season. Your query reads, "Is it 

 feasible?" I think you meant to say, 

 "Is it advisable to water in the morn- 

 ing, say 7 a. m.?" to which I say em- 

 phatically, No ! Leave the watering until 

 9 a. m., until you' can tell more readily 

 what the succeeding hours will bring 

 forth. 



To be reminiscent, once more, of my 

 own effusions, we have said that waterers 

 are, like poets, born, not made. For that 

 matter, it would be nearer the truth if 

 the word gardeners were substituted in 

 place of waterers. 



Broadly, here are some good rules for 

 this most important of all greenhouse 

 operations: From October 1 to April 1 

 we water always in the forenoon, and on 

 dull, rainy days no watering is done in 

 any house which is kept below 55 de- 

 grees. In a iiouse where a high tem- 

 perature is kept this is of less conse- 

 quence, because the heat from the pipes 

 will dry up the moisture on the foliage. 

 From early April to the end of Septem- 

 ber, providing you have a little fire heat 

 and ventilation, you can water in the 

 afternoon. I trust these dates will not 

 be understood as arbitrary. April may 

 be cold and cloudy or bright and warm, 

 and there is where you may exercise your 

 own brains, and, depend upon it, if you 

 don't possess in your own right that es- 

 sential gray matter you cannot buy or 

 borrow the stuff, and no college in the 

 land can improve its quality or ad'd to 

 its weight one particle. The only method 

 to improve your thinking apparatus is to 

 exercise it, the same as muscle is im- 

 proved. 



In the winter, with a lower tempera- 

 ture and the sun obscured, there is little 

 evaporation from the foliage of plants 

 and less water at the roots is needed. 

 With our soft-wooded plants, and even 

 with our more important plants, like 

 roses, carnations, violets and chrysanthe- 

 mums, no good grower would like to see 

 them go to rest for the night with the fo- 

 liage wet. So never water in any house 

 unless you are sure there is time 'for the 

 moisture to dry up by evaporation before 

 night. There may be some exceptions 

 with a few plants, but so few they are 

 not worth l oentioni ng. 



In lookingaroun^i a large range of 

 rose houses a few days ago I questioned 

 with the proprietor the wisdom of syrin- 

 ging on dull days and added that I knew 

 some successful growers who would not 

 syringe for a week, preferring to wait 

 for a bright day. My host replied: "I 

 like to syringe. If it is dull, then I put 

 on a little more steam to dry the foliage 

 and lower it again when I see it is dry." 

 This is all in the line of reason and logic. 



There is a great difference in the con- 

 dition of atmosphere relished by the na- 

 tive plants of Borneo or Java and those 

 of temperate America and Europe, but 



