December 27, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



4U 



and a few other trifling things around 

 the potting bench. Any active man un- 

 der these conditions should pot not less 

 than 5,000 2-inch pots in ten hours and 

 6,000 is not too many to expect, and 

 good work should be done. I am not 

 speaking now of d^y attempt toward 

 making a record, but a day's work for 

 weeks or months at a time. This may 

 not seem of great importance to the 

 smaller grower who plants 5,000 or 10,000 

 young plants each year, but I claim it 

 is. 



While you may, most of the time, be 

 able to get through your work without 

 undue haste, yet every grower knows that 

 there are times when time is everything, 

 and I claim that a majority of growers 

 waste more time on their potting than 

 they do on anything else in the routine 

 of greenhouse work. And during potting 

 time there is plenty to do. To adopt a 

 system like this does not necessarily 

 mean working at top speed unless you 

 are so inclined, but it does mean a maxi- 

 mum of good work for a minimum of 

 effort. 



Allow for Water. 

 Don't fill the pots too full, but allow 

 for watering. There should be a scant 

 quarter-inch below the edge of a 2-inch 

 pot to hold water when it is soaking into 

 the soil, else if the soil once gets dry 

 you cannot soak it through again. This 

 is a mistake made too often by begin- 

 ners. As soon as set into the house they 

 should be watered, but I will have more 

 to say on this subject next week. 



A. r. J. Baue. 



TEMPERATURE. 



At what temperature shall I run my 

 greenhouse to get the best results for 

 Enchantress, Vesper and Mrs. .Lawson? 

 What is their appearance when over- 

 fed f- A. G. B. 



You will find a night temperature of 

 52 degrees about as satisfactory as you 

 can get for the varieties you name. 

 Enchantress prefers 50 degrees while 

 Mrs. Lawson prefers 55 degrees. Vesper 

 likes about 52 degrees. On cloudy days 

 raise the temperature about 6 degrees 

 and on sunny days raise it 10 to 15 

 degrees with some ventilation. 



When carnations are overfed the 

 blooms will become soft and will not 

 keep any length of time. On some va- 

 rieties the blooms will lose their nat- 

 ural form and will look ragged, fre- 

 quently splitting the calyx. The plants, 

 too, will look over-rank and soft and will 

 wilt easily. While it is not easy to 

 explain to a beginner all the symptoms 

 so he will understand, yet to an experi- 

 enced grower it is like an open book. 

 He can detect it immediately he looks 

 over the plants. A. F. J. B. 



TOBACCO STEM ASHES. 



Of what value are the ashes of to- 

 bacco stems to carnations and what is 

 the principal chemical substance con- 

 tained in these ashes? L. L. 



You can use ashes made from tobacco 

 stems about the same as you would 

 hardwood ashes. Both of these are 

 especially rich in potash and are used 

 for that property. It strengthens the 

 stems and toughens the fibre of the 

 plant. Like lime, it will also free other 

 plant foods contained in the soil and 

 you will notice, after an application, a 

 renewed vigor in the plants. As with all 



Vanda Saaderiana. 



chemicals, it must not be used too freely. 

 We have seen it cause the stems on 

 some varieties to become so brittle that 

 they would snap at the joints from the 

 mere weight of the blooms. A light ap- 

 plication once each month or six weeks 

 is enough as a rule. A. F. J. B. 



THRIPS. 



I enclose a bud of Lady Bountiful. 



The carnations appear to be all right 



when forming, then torn like this one. 



Can you tell the cause and the remedy. 



L. A. D. 



We have noticed this same thing on 

 Lady Bountiful early in the fall, before 

 the plants were well established and 

 when the blooms were coming single. 

 We have always attributed it to thrips 

 and think they are likely at the bottom 

 of your trouble. Later on, when the 

 blooms began to come more double and 

 after we had sprayed them regularly 

 for a few weeks, it disappeared entirely. 

 You do not say what date your carna- 

 tions were planted, so I cannot be sure 

 that your plants wilj naturally outgrow 

 it. If they were planted much later 

 than September 1 you will likely be 

 troubled in this way until the days be- 

 gin to get longer and the plants get into 

 a strong growth, when the blooms will 

 be full and well formed. Spray them 

 regularly with one of the tobacco prep- 

 arations to keep down aphis and thrips. 



A. F. J. B. 



CARNATION EXHIBITS. 



George H. Mills, who is to be superin- 

 tendent of the approaching Toronto ex- 

 hibition of the American Carnation So- 

 ciety, requests exhibitors to ship all par- 

 cels by the Canadian Express Co. at 

 frontier points. Suspension Bridge, N. 



Y.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Detroit and Port 

 Huron, Mich., as he thinks this will 

 assist in getting quick delivery. 



VANDA SANDERIANA. 



This rather striking vanda is not much 

 seen in orchid collections. A native of 

 the Philippines, it was introduced in 

 1881. The flowers are large, four to 

 five inches in diameter and flat. The 

 dorsal sepal and small petals are pink, 

 stained with buff, the lower pair tawny 

 yellow varied with brownish crimson. 

 The small lip is purplish-red at the base, 

 the top being chocolate. 



Unlike V. cserulea, this vanda enjoys 

 tropical heat and the winter minimum 

 should not fall below 60 to 65 degrees. 

 Baskets are best for its culture, fern 

 fiber and sphagnum being suitable root- 

 ing mediums. The flowering period is 

 October and November. While a pic- 

 turesque variety, this will never become 

 plentiful enough to be of any commer- 

 cial value. W. N. C. 



THE GLASS MARKET. 



It is the general prediction among 

 well-informed jobbers in window glass 

 that prices will shortly be higher; in- 

 deed, an advance of five per cent is an- 

 ticipated within a few days. Lester C. 

 Partridge, of Sharp, Partridge & Co., 

 Chicago, says that prices will undoubt- 

 edly be much firmer from now on and 

 A, L. LeVaque, of the Pittsburgh Plate 

 Glass Co., agrees that those who defer 

 buying will have to pay higher prices for 

 their supplies. Incidentally, prices now 

 are not low but the glass trade says they 

 are low compared to the prices of other 

 commodities. Both Mr. LeVaque and 

 Mr. Partridge report that there is every 

 indication of a greater 'demand for 

 greenhouse sizes than ever has been 



